LHS Student Honored by C-SPAN [PHOTOS]

A Laramie High School student who won first prize in C-SPAN’s annual student video documentary competition, StudentCam, was honored Wednesday afternoon at the Laramie High School Theater.

Arundathi Nair, a freshman at Laramie High School, won first place in the nationwide competition with her documentary, “Fossil Fuels to Renewables.” It was aired on C-Span throughout the day on April 18.

Nair’s documentary was shown during the ceremony, as was a video from Governor Matt Mead congratulating Nair. Many Wyoming elected officials were present to congratulate Nair on her accomplishment, including Wyoming Department of Education Chief of Staff Dicky Shanor, Laramie Mayor Andrea Summerville, Senator Chris Rothfuss, Representative Cathy Connolly, Representative Charles Pelkey, Representative Dan Furphy, County Commissioner Tim Chestnut and Laramie City Councilor Joe Shumway.

“Aru is a great example of a young person who used their voice to influence policy, influence what’s going on in the world,” Summerville said. “Just because you are under the age of 18 does not mean you cannot influence what’s going on today - please, take every opportunity, use your voice, speak out, get engaged. And when you’re 18, most important, run for office or vote”

Senator Chris Rothfuss, Representative Charles Pelkey and Representative Cathy Connolly said Nair had tackled a topic that even the Wyoming legislature found difficult and did it well.

“I’m going to send this video to the legislators and make sure they watch it and hopefully learn something from it,” Rothfuss said.

Representative Connolly praised the artistry of Nair’s documentary.

“It is not only content-wise wonderful, but it is also visually appealing,” Connolly said.

Nair’s video was selected out of 2,903 video submissions from over 5,600 students in 46 states and Washington D.C. She received a $3,000 prize for the documentary at the ceremony.