| FOR RELEASE: November 16, 2009 |
Contact: Liz Utrup, (202) 401-1576 or press@ed.gov |
Since September 21, hundreds of students across the country have responded to the President's call to take greater responsibility for their education by creating videos explaining why education is important to their future. In less than two months, students submitted more than 600 video entries to the "I Am What I Learn" video contest, hosted by the U.S. Department of Education and YouTube. In their entries, students talked about their personal goals and the role education plays in meeting them. The submissions came from students with diverse economic, social and ethnic backgrounds, and the content ranged from music videos to short skits. The common theme in all of these videos is that education is the key to their success.
"We're very excited about the tremendous participation and extraordinary creativity that our video contest has received," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. "I want to thank these students for sharing their stories and for being leaders in spreading this important message."
The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Communications and Outreach has carefully reviewed the submissions and narrowed them down to 10 finalists based on use of creativity, strength and originality of content, and ability to inspire. These videos are now available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/IamwhatIlearn.
Voting to determine the three winning videos begins today, November 16, and runs through December 4. The three finalists whose videos receive the most votes by December 4 will each win a $1,000 prize issued by the U.S. Department of Education.
The submissions and stories from students across the country are so inspiring that two friends of the U.S. Department of Education—Shane Battier of the Houston Rockets and Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle—wanted to share their stories about the role education plays in their own lives. Please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkAAgeYcrHQ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpeCf2eKEcs to learn how education has impacted their lives.
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