The 31^st Annual High School Video Festival, sponsored by the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Midwest Media Educators Association (MMEA), was held on Friday, April 26, 2024 at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, IL. Students from the Media Production 1, Media Production 2, and Media Production 3 classes at Neuqua Valley High School participated in the annual competition along with high school media students from 40 high schools across the Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin/Northwest Indiana area. 

Neuqua Valley earned 6 top honors.

2^nd Place – Dramatic Narrative: “Hiding in Plain Sight” by Jayden Adkins and Emma Jenkins

2^nd Place – News Program: “Wildcat Weekly” by Sienna McEneaney, Mridula Natarajan, Presley Kiecker, and Chloe O’Keefe

3^rd Place – PSA: “ ‘This is America’ Game Show PSA” by Jayden Adkins

4^th Place – 7-Day Challenge: “Soy un Perdedor” by Jayden Adkins & Emma Jenkins

5^th Place – News Package: “Neuqua Alumni” by John Haralambopoulos

5^th Place – PSA: “Look Up From the Screen” by Ani Avedourmian

Finalist – Comedic Narrative: “Mistakes in a Loop” by Aidan Wonderling, Yousef Abutaleb, Christopher Devor, Bailey Smith

Finalist – Comedic Narrative: “Hungry” by Charlie Scriven-Young

Finalist – Demonstration: “How to Make a Stop Motion Animation” by Yousef Abutaleb and Christopher Devor

Finalist – Documentary: “My Flag” by Maxwell Njau

Finalist – Movie Trailer: “Hyperbowl” by Yousef Abutaleb, Christopher Devor, Bailey Smith

Finalist – Natural Audio News Package: “Varsity Dance” by Mridula Natarajan

Finalist – News Package: “Competitive Speech Team” by Sienna McEneaney

* The Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recently announced that 1 Neuqua Valley entry has been awarded a Student Production Award for Excellence in the following category:

- “ ‘This is America’ Game Show PSA” in the Public Service Announcement category by Jayden Adkins

This entry will move on to the national competition and compete against the winners from the other NATAS chapters.

Neuqua Valley also received another Student Production Award nomination in the Magazine Category for “Wildcat Weekly” by Sienna McEneaney, Mridula Natarajan, Presley Kiecker, and Chloe O’Keefe.

*Senior Presley Kiecker was presented with the $2,500 Silver Circle Scholarship by the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The TV Academy created the Student Award of Excellence to honor outstanding television journalism by high school students in 2003. This is the 20^th Student Awards of Excellence that Neuqua Valley has been awarded.

For more information on the Student Television Award for Excellence, visit: http://chicagoemmyonline.org/students/