First Lady Announces Weekly Winner Chosen By SC Voters

COLUMBIA, SC (12/28/2007)(readMedia)-- First Lady Jenny Sanford announced “The Health Squad” as the weekly winner of the Healthy SC School Video Contest. Each week, through the semi-finals rounds, the #1 video at noon on Friday is determined the weekly winner.

Danny Drescher created “The Health Squad.” He is a 16 year old student at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville. He will receive a prize pack from Coca Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated- and will remain in the contest for a chance to win the monthly prize of $3,500 cash!

The minute long film is a fast- paced action series that stars a kung fu fighter, an intimidating body-builder, and a daredevil in a purple 80’s track suit with a helmet. Each of the action figures fights crimes against unhealthy eating, inactivity, and tobacco use. Not only do they succeed in getting their victims to not eat hamburgers, not play video games and not smoke, they replace their vices with a salad, a basketball, and a carrot!

The twenty videos currently competing in the quarter finals represent a diverse array of health themes submitted from students in all parts of South Carolina. Other notable videos include “Smoking Waltz”, “The Coffin”, and “No Smoking.”

“Smoking Waltz” is about conducting yourself in a healthy way (by not smoking) and was submitted by students at Gibbes Middle School in Richland County. Students recite an original poem that uses the analogy of a vending machine as a coffin in “The Coffin” which was submitted by students at Garrett Academy of Technology in Charleston County. “No Smoking” shows how cigarette companies cover up the truth about the dangers of tobacco and was submitted by students at Bluffton High School in Beaufort County.

The contest is currently in the quarter-finals round which ends today. At midnight tonight, the Top 10 Healthy SC videos lock-in to set the stage for 2 days of semi-finals competition. At 12 am on December 31st, the Healthy SC School Video Contest December winners will be determined. The video in the #1 spot will receive $3,500 cash and the #2 video will receive $1,500.

The winner of the Healthy SC School Video Contest will then enter the finals round sponsored by OurStage - the #1 videos in EACH channel are locked-in. In these final 24 hours of judging, fans of ALL genres rise to judge for their favorite pieces on OurStage. At midnight, the #1 item in Music and the #1 item in Video are the OurStage Grand Prize Winners of $5,000. This means that the December Healthy SC School Video Contest winner has a shot at winning an additional $5,000- a total of $8,500!

The contest runs through January 31st, with video submissions accepted up until January 23rd, 2008. Each month, the video in the #1 spot receives $3,500 cash and the runner up receives $1,500. Schools of the top two videos each also receive prizes.

OurStage, the only purely democratic online competition where the fans decide who's the best in emerging music, film and video, is hosting the contest on a special channel created solely for the Healthy SC School Video Contest. OurStage’s unique judging engine ensures that each piece is judged fairly by the viewers-no rigging and no cheating.

To view and judge “The Health Squad" and other videos visit http://www.ourstage.com/video/channel/58-healthy-challenge.

You can also link to this contest page at www.healthysc.gov where you can access all the contest rules and where you can fill out an application to enter the contest.

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The Healthy SC Challenge is an outcome-based, cooperative effort aimed at encouraging individuals, communities and organizations across the state to show shared responsibility in developing innovative ways to improve the health of South Carolina's citizens. For more information about the Healthy SC Challenge, please visit www.healthysc.gov , or call 803-737-4772.