Three Becker High Schoolers won the 2023 Sherburne County Safe Roads Coalition video contest and they were presented with prizes Wednesday morning at the school by Sgt. Geoff Dowty of Sherburne County.
Two Becker girls captured the third place prize for their video and also received prizes from Dowty Wednesday morning.
This video contest was the second annual event for the coalition. Last year, one video was submitted (from Princeton High School’s SADD Chapter) and, of course, it won the contest. This year, four teams submitted videos with Noah Bloch, Joseph Kampa and Sam Warren bringing home the top prize.
The video — from 30-60 seconds in length — was to highlight the dangers of speeding, no seat belt use and other distracted driving occurences. These are three of the four leading factors of fatal crashes in Minnesota and Sherburne County is leading the way in getting teens aware of the dangers in a way that captures audiences.
The girls who took the third place prize included Grace Hilden and Madison Ringwelski.
Any student or group from any high school in Sherburne County was eleigible and submissions were accepted all the way up until Feb. 28, 2023. Dowty, a sergeant in the Patrol Division of Sherburne County, headed up the contest for the coalition.
Various businesses and organizations showed their support for the contest and below is a sample of prizes that were available to be distributed to the winning entries:
State Farm - Curt Van Oort - $350 cash; Pizza Depot - Becker - $20 gift card, shaker cup and sticker; Marvel Nutrition - Becker - $3 off coupon and free drinks for winners; Minnesota State Patrol -$100 cash; Buffalo Wild Wings - Elk River - Four Sauce Bottles; Domino’s Pizza - Zimmerman - Two Large Pizzas; NCIA - Elk River - $200 cash, travel mug, chapstick; Heavenly Fresh/Rum River Consultants - Princeton - $60 in Gift Cards; Becker Community Center - Becker - Four Day Passes; Zimmerman Cafe Bar & Bowl - Zimmerman - $45 in Gift Cards; Walmart - Elk River - $200 in Gift Cards; Kwik Trip - Big Lake - $40 in Gift Cards.
Example videos can be found:
• 2022 winning video: “ Dangers of Distracted Driving - Student PSA” (YouTube);
• “Towards Zero Deaths Driving Safety PSA” (YouTube).
