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Sam Houston Electric Cooperative Announces $4,000 Youth Video Contest

Sam Houston Electric Cooperative Announces $4,000 Youth Video Contest


Sam Houston Electric Cooperative, in conjunction with Texas Co-op Power magazine, announces the launch of the 2013 Co-op Teens Power Texas video contest. For the fourth consecutive year, Sam Houston Electric Cooperative and Texas Co-op Power will award up to $4,000 in cash prizes for winners of the competition.

Students in grades 6 through 12 whose parents or legal guardians are current members of an electric cooperative in Texas can participate. This year, students are asked to create a five to 10 minute video interviewing someone who remembers the era when the lights came on, when electricity first came to their home. The video will serve as an oral history of the time before the interviewee received electricity and how life was changed afterwards. All videos have the potential to be included in a full-length documentary to be produced by Texas Co-op Power at a later date.

The grand prizewinner will receive $1,500 and be profiled in Texas Co-op Power magazine. If a school is involved as a sponsor of the first-place winner it will receive $1,000. The second-place winner, determined by the most YouTube views, will receive $500. Four runners-up will each receive $250 for best performance in one of four judging categories: creativity, educational value, video editing and technical quality.

The contest opens November 1 and ends April 1. Winners will be announced April 23.

For full contest rules and entry forms, go to www.TexasCoopPower.com, scroll down and click on the Co-op Teens Power Texas button on the right side of the page.

See last year’s winning videos at www.youtube.com/TXCOOPOWER. For contest updates and tips, “Like” Texas Co-op Power magazine on Facebook or follow on Twitter @TexasCoopPower.

Sam Houston EC received its charter May 16, 1939, and has been providing electricity to East Texas ever since. The Cooperative was founded by a handful of farmers and rural residents who dreamed of bringing “power to the people.” In the early 1940s, there were just over 600 Co-op members. Today, Sam Houston EC serves 51,000 members and 67,000 meters across parts of 10 counties.