The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office continues to work to prevent school threats, violence, weapons, and bullying in Macomb County schools. Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido implemented a student competition called “Knocking Violence Out of My School” so students could have a voice to talk with peers about school threats, violence, weapons, and bullying.
The “Knocking Violence Out of My School” video competition asked students to create videos on anti-threats, anti-violence, anti-weapons, and/or anti-bullying. Over thirty videos were submitted. The winners were selected by the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Juvenile Unit. “It was difficult to choose the winning videos due to the excellent material and production of the videos by the students. The Juvenile Unit took into account the subject matter, quality of the video, and its impact in choosing the winners,” said Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Tonya Goetz, Chief of the Juvenile Unit.
The prizes are as follows: first place $1,000, second place $750, and third place $500. The winner’s schools will also receive a Macomb County Prosecutor’s Hero Award.
First Place winner of the “Knocking Violence Out of My School” video competition is sophomore Moriah White of L’Anse Creuse High School (LCHS). White’s video was created as part of her curriculum in the TV & Broadcast Media class at the FV Pankow Center, part of LCHS. White points out, “I did the video because the day before we were told about the assignment, the school shooting at Michigan State took place, and it just felt right to do my video on something that is starting to become so common.”
White’s TV & Broadcast Media teacher at FV Pankov Center Michael Kaufman said, “Video competitions, like the one that was produced by the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office affect both the students who create the videos and those who view them. The students creating this video not only thought about how to curb violence in our schools, but also how to effectively communicate those concerns to their peers. I can’t thank the Macomb County Prosecutor’s office enough for engaging our students, and offering this competition, which motivates students to push their creative boundaries to have a positive effect on their community.”
Second Place winner is Cole Pannell of New Haven High School. Pannell says, “When I initially saw the competition I wanted to do it because I love to produce little short films with my friends. As I began to storyboard the video I started to relate to the topic more and more. This year alone my school has experienced threats. One of my friends missed his senior night for soccer because of a ‘joke’ he made to his friends. That incident is one of the many events that helped inspire me to work on this video. I thought this video competition was an amazing idea to engage more students about the issue of threats, bullying and other issues that plague schools. I loved working on this with my friends knowing that our classmates would see our video and have an impact on them.“ Pannell started Cole Pannell Photography with his brother. In October 2022, Pannell’s photography was exhibited in the Anton Art Center in Mount Clemens.
Third Place winner of the video competition is Mr. Bussineau’s First Hour Street Law Class from Romeo High School. The Street Law Class is a criminal justice class that focuses on laws and public safety. Bussineau explains, “After the MSU shooting the students were tired of talking about school violence and wanted to do something about it. The students utilized the newly added Mock Trial classroom furniture in their Law and Public Safety classroom and Video Production Classroom video editing software to send a message about the consequences of making a false school threat.”
Lucido and the entire Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office would like to thank all the students who submitted videos. “Students taking the time and effort to send their message peer to peer to stop school threats, violence, weapons, and bullying is a great step to keeping our Macomb County schools safe. Everyone who submitted videos are winners,” said Lucido. The office thanked all the administrators, principals, and teachers who helped make the competition a success.
The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office is working on scheduling presentations for the first Hero Awards of 2023 with the winning student’s schools. Every student who submitted a video will receive a certificate of appreciation from the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office.
To view the winning videos, visit the Macomb County Prosecutor’s website at https://prosecutor.macombgov.org/Prosecutor-Home or on the office’s social media.
