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GREENSBORO — It’s lights, camera, and rubber chicken as a Southeast junior becomes a winner in a national video contest spotlighting education.

Alex Hughes is one of three winners of the U.S. Department of Education’s video contest, “I Am What I Learn.” The contest encouraged students to create videos that explain how education has shaped who they are.

More than 600 students entered videos. Hughes and the other winners will receive a $1,000 prize.

Hughes entered the contest on a whim and was excited when he was chosen one of 10 finalists.

“I looked at all the other videos and saw they weren’t really funny and I thought, 'Who was going to watch these videos?’ Students are. So, I tried to make mine funny,” he said.

Hughes’ video opens with him sitting in a director’s chair, a green screen in the background. As the two-minute video progresses, Hughes walks around his yard and house explaining how a good education leads to accomplishing one’s dreams.

All the while, his friends are in the background interacting with movie set pieces, getting Hughes to sign-off on important movie documents and getting their director’s opinion on which rubber chicken is funniest for a crucial scene.

Michael Crenshaw, Hughes’ digital media teacher at Weaver Academy, said the video is tightly produced and has a strong sense of comedic timing, giving it a well-polished feel.

It’s a side of the teen his friends and classmates hadn’t seen. “He’s a shy guy and in his video that’s where he’s able to express himself,” Crenshaw said.

Hughes will take part in a video conference with the Department of Education on Tuesday.
 

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com