May 17, 2012

Mayor Emanuel Announces Winners of NATO Welcome Video Contest

Student-Produced Videos Showcase City of Chicago to Welcome Summit Attendees

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

CHICAGO –Mayor Emanuel, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Chicago NATO Host Committee today announced the winners of the NATO Video Contest at Scammon Elementary School. The winning videos will welcome the leaders from more than 50 countries to Chicago for the NATO Diplomatic Summit tomorrow at the McCormick Place.

Winners of the elementary school division are from Scammon School. They are Adelina Lopez (8th Grade), Chanel Scott (6th Grade), Maria Gomez (6th Grade) and Alexander Kostner (8th Grade). The winners of the high school division are Charla Agnew (12th Grade) from Dunbar Academy, Aria McDonald (11th Grade) from Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy and Maia McDonald (11th Grade) from Whitney M Young Magnet school.

“The NATO Summit is providing our students with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in and learn from the diverse array of activities related to the Summit,” said Mayor Emanuel. “Since this is the first time that an American city other than Washington D.C. has hosted a NATO Summit, students are excited about this historic event. The video contest has allowed them to show the rest of the world just how creative and innovative Chicago Public Schools students can be.”

Through this contest, CPS students were invited to produce innovative three minute videos showcasing why the City of Chicago is a unique and special city. The video served as a platform to encourage students to have conversations about NATO countries and their history. Students were allowed to work individually or in teams of up to four.

The winning videos will be featured on the Host Committee website at www.chicagonato.org, CPS’s website at www.cps.edu, and shown at the Media Center at McCormick Place where 2,000 journalists are expected to attend the summit. The winners received iPods courtesy of the Chicago NATO Host Committee.  In addition, one new 4G iPad was awarded to one of the seven winners, drawn at random.

The Chicago Public Schools serves approximately 405,000 students in more than 675 schools. It is the nation’s third-largest school system.

 

# # #