Harrisburg — State Senator John DiSanto (Dauphin/Perry) today announced district semifinalists for the “Talk to Your State Senator” statewide video competition focusing on improving school safety. Middle and high school students were encouraged to submit video entries with their suggestions for addressing this issue.
From the entries received in Senator DiSanto’s district, those moving on to the statewide competition are the Harrisburg Christian School team, in the high school division, consisting of Hadley Beittel, Brianna Hoffacker, Ruiqi Xiong, and Wendy Yu.
A link to the winning video is available at https://vimeo.com/305062848.
Area officials with experience in law enforcement and emergency management rated each submission on creativity, content and effectiveness of message delivery. Judges for Senator DiSanto’s district were Dauphin County Sheriff Nicholas Chimienti and Kraig Nace, Chief of Operations for Duncannon Emergency Medical Services.
“I congratulate those students moving on in the video contest as well as thank all those who participated,” Senator DiSanto said. “The legislature dedicated an additional $60 million to school safety initiatives this year, and we are continuing to have a dialogue with school leaders, law enforcement and other stakeholders about additional steps that can be taken to improve school safety. This contest was an opportunity for students to share the kind of issues they see in their hallways and classrooms every day and offer solutions to help make our schools a safer environment for learning.”
“Talk to Your Senator” is open to Pennsylvania students in grades 6 through 12 and will provide a total of $10,000 in cash prizes to the statewide winners. Prize money, provided by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, will be awarded through the TAP 529 Account program with the PA Department of Treasury and deposited into college savings accounts in the winners’ names.
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association is a nonprofit statewide association of public school boards, pledged to the highest ideals of local lay leadership for the public schools of the commonwealth.
Harrisburg Christian School, (L-R) Christine Eifert (Technology Educator), Wendy Yu, Senator John DiSanto, Ruiqi Xiong. Not pictured: Hadley Beittel, Brianna Hoffacker.
CONTACT: Chuck Erdman cerdman@pasen.gov (717) 787-6801