Fountain Valley High student wins $1,000 scholarship for video on not texting and driving
On first thought, one might not draw a connection between driving and playing a sport.
But Minh-Khoi Le believes the same level of concentration is necessary to do both.
So, he wonders, why do people text while driving?
Le, a Fountain Valley High School senior, made a 43-second video showing students texting while playing sports, with predictable consequences. He wanted to illustrate for his peers why they shouldn’t text and drive.
“It’s super silly to text and be in the water,” said Le, who plays water polo for his school.
The video won him a $1,000 scholarship, and his school $250, as a semifinalist in the CTIA Wireless Foundation’s third annual “Drive Smart: No Distractions, No Excuses” digital short contest.
He came up with the concept with the help of friends, and he asked players in all of Fountain Valley High’s winter sports to be filmed for the video.
The video, which Le directed, took about three days to film and one day to edit.
Le said he had learned to edit through a film and editing class at school. To show his appreciation, he gave the $250 school award to teacher Sean Ziebarth, hoping the money will help buy more cameras and video equipment.
Le said he got a call a month ago saying he was a semifinalist. At first he was shocked.
“I laughed, but they sent me an email and everything,” said Le, who was told he could only tell his parents about the news. “I was super surprised.”
But now that the news is public, friends have sent him messages congratulating him on the award, he said.
After graduation, Le plans to attend Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa and save money to transfer to a university.
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