Environmental Practices 8

For the 5th year in a row, EPS students have created winning videos for the World of 8 Billion student video contest sponsored by Population Education, a program of the non-profit, Population Connection. This year 9th grader Ruike won 1st place in the high school Climate Migration category for her video “Floods: Planting a Stable Coastline,” and 8th graders Nehal and Aryaman won a State Honor for their video “Desertification.”

This year over 3,100 videos were created for the annual international student contest. Participants were challenged with the task of producing a 1-minute video on a global topic related to human population growth, including at least one idea for a sustainable solution to the challenge. This year’s topics were Climate Migration, Invasive Species, and Health.

Environmental Practices 8 – Global Solutions teacher Krissy Russell assigns creation of a video to 8th grade students in her fall and winter trimester classes. Ruike enjoyed the contest so much last year, that she decided to enter the contest solely on her own this year.

The World of 8 Billion student video contest distributes more than $10,000 of prize money each year to the student winners for their outstanding efforts and achievement. These winners were voted on by a panel of 49 judges who are professionals in their respective fields from around the world.

More than 33,000 students in grades 6 through 12 from 100 countries and all 50 states have participated in the video contest over the last 13 years. Many students return year after year to participate in the contest, which refreshes its topics annually to reflect globally changing social and environmental issues.

“We hope the contest helps to amplify student voices on these global challenges related to our world of 8 billion and growing,” said Pam Wasserman, Population Connection’s Senior Vice President for Education. “The winning videos really celebrate the students’ exemplary research, creativity and problem-solving skills.”