First Lady Announces Weekly Winner Chosen by SC Voters

Students at Ridge View High School in Richland County Lead Healthy SC School Video Contest

COLUMBIA, SC (12/14/2007)(readMedia)-- First Lady Jenny Sanford announced “Can’t Help It” the weekly winner of the Healthy SC School Video Contest.

Andrew Drafts, Ellen Walker, and Carrie Jackson, students at Ridge View High School in Richland County, created “Can’t Help It.” The 60 second video is about an obese high school student who gets a reality check when she tries out for the tennis team and fails due to her physical condition. A member of the tennis team tells Ellen that she can’t be on the team because her unhealthy eating habits increase her risk of developing heart disease and type-two diabetes. The video ends when Ellen decides to make a healthy lifestyle change- like eating a cucumber instead of a stick of butter!

Each of the students 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 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.

In order to qualify for the prizes, students are required to register their video(s) on the Healthy SC Challenge website, www.healthysc.gov. The top 20 videos lock in at midnight on December 24th to compete in the quarter-finals. This means there are only 10 days left to upload videos for December.

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 "Can’t Help It" 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.

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