The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas announced the winners of the seventh annual Social Justice Video Contest today. The grand prize was won by students from Mercy High School in Burlingame, California, near San Francisco.
Participants in this year’s contest were given a choice of two topics, immigration and voting, around which to create the video.
Two students from the high school (Jaylyn Remolona and Myra Alvarez) created a video titled Sacrifice for Family.
Second place went to three students (Carli Amos, Aiden Arrington and Luciana Elliott) from Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School in Lower Gwynedd, Pennsylvania, for a video titled Use Your Voice! Third place was earned by two students (Riley Wichman and Angela Thiel) from Mercy High School in Middletown, Connecticut; their video was titled Vote with Faith and Mercy.
Honorable mentions went to two other submissions: Our Journeys Began with Them, from Leilani Duong-Vasquez, Sophia Hiebert, Taylor Rovetti and Caroline Phillips of Mercy High School in Middletown, Connecticut; and Be a Hero and VOTE with Faith, from Calliope Beatty, Malley Connor, Addison Foster and Grace Tronoski of Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School in Lower Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.
“We had a lot of thoughtful entries in this year’s contest,” said Mike Poulin, Justice Resource Manager for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. “I think the videos will challenge viewers to consider their voting practices and to better understand the realities facing immigrants.”
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, five areas of particular importance to the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas; the Critical Concerns include Immigration, Nonviolence, care for the Earth, Racism and concern for the education, health and spiritual needs of women and girls.
You can view the winning video gallery or visit the Sisters of Mercy YouTube channel.