EAST LOS ANGELES : Garfield Students Win Video Contest

Garfield High School students have won a national competition for their video illustrating how personal choices play a part in gang violence.

The six students, enrolled in teacher Jeff Combe’s video production class, were treated to a four-day trip to New York for their piece “Stop Me Before . . .” The contest was sponsored by Matsushita Electric Corporation of America and the Panasonic Kid Witness News Program.

“It was the first time I had been in a plane,” said student Denise Espinoza, 18, who was co-director.

The story, adapted from a play written and produced by a student last year, shows how difficult it is for a student to free himself from his past gang affiliation. The boy, who wants to attend a summer school class, has trouble because former rival gang members attend the same school.

The boy ends up buying a gun for protection and a friend finds out about it but does not tell anyone. The video ends when the rivals find the boy waiting at the front of the school and shoot him dead. The video explores not only his decision to buy the gun, but his friend’s choice not to report it.

“You get the story from the friend that, ‘If only I had told someone, this might not have happened,’ ” said Asst. Principal Carole Stoner, who took the trip with the students. “So often it’s ‘society’ that (is blamed for creating) the problems with drugs or gangs, but not very often do you get something from the personal responsibility angle.”

The class, which also included students Aileen Becerra, Raymundo Acosta, Douglas Avila, Michael Castillo and Jose Sandoval, won a top award last year in a school district competition for a production on condom use.

Garfield’s video was chosen from about 300 entries from 200 schools throughout the country. Judges included NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw and film director Spike Lee.

As part of their prize, they visited museums in the New York area, Ellis Island, had lunch near the Statue of Liberty and went to the top of the Empire State Building. They were also treated to an awards ceremony and mentorship program.

For Denise, who will graduate June 29, the award has given her the incentive to continue pursuing her dream to become a film director. Others in the class also want careers in film.

“It was awesome,” she said. “It gives me more initiative to see that I can do a lot in my future.”