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Sisters of Mercy Announce 2023 Winners of Social Justice Video Contest

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The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas announced the winners of the sixth annual Social Justice Video Contest today. The grand prize was shared by students from two schools, Mercy High School in Middletown, Connecticut and Holy Cross High School in Mindanao, Philippines.

Three students at Mercy High School in Middletown (Emma Lemieux, Maggie Misbach, Abigail Gomes, Katherine Grelotti and Georgia Baldini) created a video titled Are You With Us?, which deals with the trauma of lockdowns in schools caused by mass shooting events. The second grand prize winner, Racism, was developed by nine Holy Cross students (Amer Hasan Macarambon, Allyza Jane Dangga, Rianna Ysabella Dollete, Krizyl Baguhin, Susan Gayle Andales, Sittie Nihaya Umba, Fatima Rose Rivera, Atheel Villaganas and Abby Kim Suan), and looks at the devastating effects of racial bias.

Honorable mentions went to six other submissions: Bandera de Amor (Flag of Love), from students at Instituto María Regina in Le Ceiba, Honduras; Life is Not a Game, by students at Mercy High School in Middletown; Stop the Violence, from students at Gwynedd Mercy Academy in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania; Together We Can End Gun Violence, also from students at Gwynedd Mercy Academy; What is Justice? by students at Mercy High School in Farmington Hills, Michigan; and Welcome to the Gun Zone, from students at Mercy High School in Burlingame, California.

This year’s contest featured 47 video entries from students at nine Mercy schools in three countries, Honduras, the Philippines and the United States.

“Our grand prize winners this year, and many of the other entries, address issues that are so prevalent in our societies: gun violence and racism. In their 90 second videos, these students did an excellent job examining difficult topics from a youthful, Mercy inspired perspective,” said Mike Poulin, Justice Resource Manager for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.

The video contest was launched in 2017 as a way to connect high school and college students at Sisters of Mercy-sponsored schools with the Critical Concerns of the congregation. Submissions for the 2023 contest were limited to one of two topics, advocacy or gun violence.

You can view the winning videos on the Sisters of Mercy YouTube channel by clicking here.