RUNNING WITH IT
ROHS senior is 2nd place winner in national C-SPAN video contest
Sarah Barnett, a Royal Oak High School senior, snagged a second place award for her video in the C-SPAN StudentCam documentary competition.
Barnett filmed and reported her video “Is Ranked Choice the Right Choice?” the about ranked choice voting system.
Royal Oak is one of several cities in the state that have voted in favor of having ranked choice voting in its local elections.
The only problem since city voters approved ranked choice voting last year is that Michigan doesn’t allow that system to be used in elections.
Ranked choice voting will only be allowed if the Legislature votes to amend Michigan election laws, and that hasn’t happened yet.
Barnett won $1,500 in prize money for her work in the student competition.
She is in her third year of advanced film studies with ROHS’s TV, video and film teacher Mike Conrad.
Conrad said he made entry into the C-SPAN contest an assignment for all of his advanced study students.
The competition for high school and middle school student classifications was nationwide. C-SPAN breaks down the submissions from students into three regions across the U.S. and Barnett won her award for the central region.
“She selected her own topic for her entry,” Conrad said.
Entries had to be themed on one of two central topics. The general question Barnett addressed in her video is: “In the next 20 years what’s the important change you’d like to see in America?”
In Barnett’s narration she talks about ranked choice voting with everyone from Royal Oak City Commissioner Melanie Macey to a proponent of the voting system in Ireland, where ranked choice is used in all elections.
The election system allows a voter to rank a first, second and third choice of candidate — or more depending on the number of candidates. If a candidate fails to get a majority of first-preference votes in first round of tallies, a voters’ second preference votes are applied until a winning majority candidate emerges.
Barnett raises questions about the two-candidate-winner-take-all election system used in the U.S.
“Voting is the backbone of our country,” she says in her documentary. “But in the last election it has become more evident than ever that many think the (election) system is flawed. Is there a better way?”
Conrad said Barnett’s talent has grown in terms of digital storytelling in the three years he has been her teacher.
“But where she really shines is … taking the idea and concept of a project and running with it,” Conrad said.
Barnett is no stranger to getting recognition.
“She won the class award for being the most involved (student) of the senior class this year,” Conrad said.
Barnett’s film can be seen online at studentcam.org/2024-2ndPrize-RoyalOakSchool0402.htm .