When Ann Arbor Pioneer High School students Merin McDivitt and Pearl James entered C-SPAN's ninth annual Student Cam documentary competition, they decided to focus the lens on Detroit.
Their video, "State of the City," made with fellow student Brendan Kennedy, responded to this year's theme "Dear Mr. President" by asking President Barack Obama to devote his attention to urban decline in Detroit and cities like it.
There were a total of 1,893 submissions to the competition from around the nation. Kennedy, James and McDivitt's documentary was one of four to win second place in the high school division.
Pioneer High School students James, McDivitt, and Kennedy
Photo courtesy of Carly Paulauskis
James and McDivitt became acquainted with Detroit after volunteering the previous summer in the Delray neighborhood with the nonprofit Summer in the City.
"We learned more about Detroit and its history, its people," James said.
The students talked to professors at Eastern Michigan University and even drove to Detroit for some of their footage.
"I used to be under the impression Detroit is condemned, not savable," Kennedy said. "But once we started interviewing people, I realized that Detroit is coming back and I got really excited to be a part of that."
The students will share the $1,500 second place prize. The students' faculty adviser, Tracey Van Dusen, will receive $125 from C-SPAN for her to invest in film equipment for her students.
The video will air on on C-SPAN at 6:50 a.m. April 18.
Two other teams from Pioneer earned honorable mentions.
Keely Ferguson and Sofie Squatriti received $250 for their documentary, "Saving the American Dream" about unemployment. Hannah Lynn, Rachel Ciarkowski and Dana Shin also received $250 for their documentary, "Reinventing Immigration in America."