Contact: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Friday, February 10, 2012

Students from Paul Laurence Dunbar produced the overall winning PSA in the eighth annual Keep It Real video/Internet contest, while an entry from Lexington Day Treatment earned the People’s Choice Award.

“The Drunk Monster” was submitted by Dunbar’s Travis Gaines, James Grabmayer, Sam Habash and Austin Moore. It will air on television stations throughout the region and will be shown as pre-show ads in local cinemas through National Cinemedia.

Day Treatment’s “The Road Not Taken,” produced by students Dulce Silva and Victor Castillo, received the most support during the online voting Jan. 9-20. A total of 9,106 individuals visited the website, with 80,244 votes cast to determine the People’s Choice Award.  

The Keep It Real campaign is a youth-driven community effort to educate students about underage drinking; the contest invites teen filmmakers to submit 30-second PSAs telling their peers about the risks. This year 65 videos were submitted from students throughout Kentucky.  DVDs of the winners will be distributed for use in the schools. 

The winners received a total of $3,100 in prize money at an awards program Feb. 8 at the Kentucky Theatre. Congratulations to these students from Fayette County Public Schools.

• Grand Prize/Best Picture -- “The Drunk Monster,” Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Travis Gaines, James Grabmayer, Sam Habash and Austin Moore)
• People’s Choice -- Winner: “The Road Not Taken,” Lexington Day Treatment Center (Dulce Silva and Victor Castillo); Honorable mention: “Rise Above the Influence,” Lexington Day Treatment Center (Trell Turner and Josh Greer)
• Best Direction -- Winner: “Underage Drinking PSA,” Eastside Technical Center (David Rearic, Daniel Boyd, Randon Juanso, Bailey Lowry, Dylan Kimmell, Keenan Steele, Dariel King, King Young, Ambri Bright, Eunice Martinez, DeShon Barber, Jason Rock, Michael Watts, Corey McCall, Greg King, David Loue, Connor Preston, Blake Smithson, Jackson Stamper, Nathan Akers, Jessica Marshall, Jake Barker and Cameron Plowman)    
• Best Original Music -- Winner: “Don’t Let Your Future Go Down the Toilet,” Martin Luther King Jr. Academy’s 21^st Century Program (Shantress Coleman, Travis Barrett, Deja Jones, DaJuanta Givens, Eugine Beatty and Destiny Gourdine) 
• Best Graphic Design -- Winner: “Sketched,” Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Harry Fogle and Jake Redenbaugh); Honorable mention: “I Am,” Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Paige Noe, Laurel Noe, Kelly Sanders, Sarah Widy and Kajsa Brindley) 
• Best Depiction of Message -- Winner: “Why Drink At All?” Henry Clay High School (Parker Comley) 
• Best Art Direction -- Winner: “Is It Worth the WEIGHT?” Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Elizabeth Graves and Stacy Wilk); Honorable mention: “Win without Drinking,” Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Micah Gaines, Traci Thomas, Trina Thomas and Kierra Muhammad)
• Best Comedy -- Honorable mention: “Stop Underage Drinking,” Henry Clay High School (Katie Crawford)
• Best Script -- Winner: “Choices,” Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Paige Noe, Laurel Noe, Kelly Sanders, Sarah Widy and Kajsa Brindley); Honorable mention: “Pain,” Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Matthew Moore and Josh Stone) 
• Best Editing -- Honorable mention: “Bottled Violence,” Henry Clay High School (Adam Crenshaw) 
• Most Original -- Winner: “Just Walk Away,” Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Carolyn Betts and Jordan Brennan) 

View the winning videos

Archived feature article about the Lexington Day Treatment entries

Keep It Real is public/private partnership spearheaded by Bluegrass Prevention Center and facilitated by the Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy (KY-ASAP), Fayette County Local Board and the Lexington Mayor’s Alliance on Substance Abuse.  Funding is provided through the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Initiative and the Kentucky State Police. For more information, contact Lynsey Sugarman at (859) 361-1402.

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