Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect the correct residence of the student winner.
A high school student from Montgomery County, Maryland, has won a $3,000 first prize in C-SPAN’s student documentary competition, Student Cam.
Dermott Foley, a 14-year-old freshman, who attends Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, won the competition in the eastern states for his documentary entitled “The Promise of Langley Park: The Purple Line, Climate Change and Reimagining the Future of America’s Suburbs.”
From more than 3,200 entries, the competition also awarded first place prizes in the central and western states.
“My video is about the Purple Line light rail and its potential for transforming the suburbs around Washington, D.C., in a way that helps the communities … and that also helps the planet by reducing car traffic that pollutes the environment and leads to global warming,” Foley told WTOP.
The ninth grader has a deep interest in transportation.
“Well, I’m a teen, so I have a lot of places to go. But I mean, I can’t drive, because I’m 14. So I spend a lot of time just kind of thinking about how to get from one place to another,” Foley said. “Like, can I take my bike or walk? Or what bus am I going to take?”
Foley’s documentary explores the potential impact the Purple Line could have on reducing carbon emissions by encouraging more people to ride the light rail instead of drive.
Foley’s six-minute documentary is scheduled to air April 19 at 6:50 a.m. on C-SPAN.
“I’m super excited for that. … I guess I should probably make sure my family watches,” Foley said. “I should probably make sure they’re awake for it.”
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