On March 8th, senior Jordan Mcdowell received news that she and senior Diandra Labra had taken first place in the Youth Suicide Prevention public announcements contest. The two created a 60-second commercial titled, “To the Kid Who.” Mcdowell and Labra competed against 37 other schools from the state of Arkansas with a total of 500 entries.
Mcdowell and Labra were given the project as a class assignment and finished their commercial on Feb. 11. This is not the first time the two have teamed up to create a video and enjoy working together.
“I value Diandra because apart from having a great personality, she is amazing at staying focused, being creative, and getting the job done,” said Mcdowell. “I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”
Other students in the class also entered their commercials in the contest. This is not the first year students have competed in this contest. Last year, (sophomores then), Robert Crisp and Katie Mangham took first place with their 30-second video on the importance of suicide prevention as it relates to teenagers.
“At the end of the day, it’s the judges opinion,” said Mcdowell, “All the videos were great; it is just how each commercial appeals to the judges criteria.”
Mcdowell and Labra found their inspiration for their video while on Youtube. They watched a video about skin cancer called, “Dear 16-year-old-me” and was pleased with the concept of the video.
“I think what made our video stand out most was the fact that it wasn’t graphic or anything,” said Mcdowell. “Our video didn’t have guns or pills in it like the others so ours wasn’t as depressing.”
When Mcdowell was assinged the project, she felt uncomfortable due to the fact that she had lost a close friend to suicide when she was a ninth grader.
“Having a close friend commit suicide was a very traumatic experience, but I had to come to terms with the fact that no one was to blame,” said Mcdowell. “Without coming to terms with this tragedy from my ninth grade year, I would not have been able to handle making a commercial on this very sensitive, very real issue.”
Mcdowell does plan to own her own creative services business for graphic design, photography, and videography when she grows up. She has already done some paid work in film working with wedding videos. Mcdowell is also currently enrolled in night classes at the New Design School in Fayetteville.
