April 7, 2015
For Immediate Release

WINDSOR – The seventh annual DMV -Travelers Teen Safe Driving Video Contest top-ranking winners were announced tonight with Daniel Hand High School in Madison taking first place for the second straight year. Students crafted videos with the theme, "Steer Your Friends in the Right Direction."

Highway safety advocates, state and other officials honored teens from across Connecticut on Tuesday evening for their work to promote safe driving during the DMV-Travelers teen safe driving video contest.  This year's other winners were: Second Place – Coginchaug Regional High School in Durham; Third Place – William H. Hall High School in West Hartford; Fourth Place – Howell Cheney Technical High School in Manchester; and Fifth Place – Arts at the Capitol Theater in Willimantic.

"We all know the importance of safe driving, but safe teen drivers go on to become safe adult drivers. That's why spreading awareness through contests like these are so vital. I want congratulate and thank all the students and teams who participated," said Governor Dannel P. Malloy

"These students have done a thorough job in cautioning their peers to stay safe behind the wheel," said Attorney General Jepsen. "This year's participants deserve full recognition for their efforts in sending a powerful and persuasive message to all drivers about the dangers of distracted driving."

DMV Commissioner, Andres Ayala, Jr., said, "The theme – Steer Your Friends in the Right Direction – presents a conversation-starter and a clear message to teens that they have a unique influence on their peers.  These videos show that.  Teens can contribute to safety as a driver and a passenger."

Doreen Spadorcia, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Claim, Personal Insurance and Bond & Specialty Insurance., said, "We continue to support the Teen Safe Driving Video Contest because we believe strongly in the power of programs that encourage safe driving. This contest exemplifies and encourages positive peer behavior that will help contribute to better teen driving population and safer roads in Connecticut. Congratulations to all the winners."

The Contest at a Glance
Five winning schools among the finalists will share in a $15,000 cash prize provided by Travelers, the contest's co-sponsor that also hosted the awards ceremony at its flagship Claim U facility in Windsor, CT. Travelers also donated prizes and gifts to the students and high schools.

In addition in separate awards, Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven won the DMV Teen Safe Driving Multi-Cultural Award and New Canaan High School won The Travelers Challenge.
 
There were 114 student-team submissions that involved a total of nearly 350 students statewide representing 34 high schools. Videos of the winners and other finalists can be viewed on DMV's YouTube site at: http://www.youtube.com/teensafedriving12

Daniel Hand High School will receive $5,000 for first place, Coginchaug Regional High School will receive $4,000 for second place, William H. Hall High School will receive $3,000 for third place, Howell Cheney Technical High School will receive $2,000 for fourth place and Arts at the Capitol Theater will receive $1,000 for fifth.  Wilbur Cross High School will receive $1,000 from the multi-cultural award sponsor, Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital and New Canaan High School will also receive $1,000 from Travelers for garnering the most views on the DMV Teen Safe Driving YouTube Channel.

Also, students on the first-place winning team were awarded tablets from AT&T.

John Emra, President of AT&T Connecticut said, "We are pleased to join Governor Malloy, DMV Commissioner Ayala and his entire team, and the Travelers in their efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.  On-going awareness campaigns have proven time and again to be one of the most important tools to change behavior and save lives."

Teen Drivers:  Steer Your Friends in the Right Direction
The contest theme, "Steer Your Friends in the Right Direction," was developed by a group of student advisors representing several Connecticut high schools.  The advisors said this theme delivers a simple message and challenges other teens to craft a message that can influence others to drive more safely.

In a teenager's life, his or her peers tend to hold a great influence on them. The theme asked participants to demonstrate a creative, unique and effective message about the influence teens have on one another to make responsible and safe decisions about driving – either as a driver or as a passenger. To enter this year's DMV contest, high school students were asked to direct, shoot and edit a 25-second public service announcement.

Students advisors working on the project are: Audrey Apanovitch of Glastonbury, attends Glastonbury High School; Allie Caselli and Stephanie Lewis, both of Woodbury, and Hannah McCollam, of New Fairfield, all of whom attend Nonnewaug High School; Ama Appiah of Middletown and Sophia Pelletier of East Hampton, both attend Mercy High School;  Abhishek Gupta of Rocky Hill, attends Xavier High School;  Benjamin Harlee of Hartford, attends Classical Magnet School; and Estefania Maya of Wethersfield, attends Wethersfield High School.

The DMV, Travelers and other safety advocates plan to use the videos submitted in a variety of outreach programs that it conducts as well as offer them to schools, businesses, government agencies, advocacy groups and other partners in teen safe driving.

Other promotional contest partners include AT&T, the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association; the Connecticut State Police; Mourning Parents Act (!MPACT), (a bereaved parents group); the Connecticut Children's Medical Center; Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital; Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center; The Connecticut Emergency Nurses Association, the state Department of Public Health; The state Department of Insurance, the state Department of Transportation; and the state Division of Criminal Justice.

DMV started the contest following its lead in crafting tougher teen driving laws (https://ct.gov/teendriving/laws), including longer passenger restrictions and curfews as well as increased penalties for violations and added training requirements.

Other Awards to Teens
The Travelers Challenge - $1,000 to the school in the Top 11 getting the most YouTube views on DMV's Center for Teen Safe Driving YouTube Channel. It is to be used in providing a teen safe driving program. This year it went to a finalist video from New Canaan High School for garnering 3,913 views as of April 1, 2015. Travelers is the award's corporate prize sponsor.

DMV Teen Safe Driving Multi-Cultural Award - $1,000 to the school presenting the best multi-cultural messaging in a video submitted to the contest.  Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven was selected among four other finalists with a message of diversity. Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital's Injury Prevention Program is the award's sponsor.

All 11 overall finalist teams received certificates from Governor Dannel P. Malloy and DMV Commissioner Andres Ayala, Jr., as well as gift baskets from Travelers.

Screening panels, including representatives from law enforcement, media, students and parents, narrowed the 114 submissions to Top 11 finalists, which included a tie vote in one instance for the total of 11 teams. Afterwards a panel of judges representing highway safety advocates that included Attorney General George Jepsen, DMV Commissioner Andres Ayala, Jr., Travelers Executive Vice President, Claims Services, Robert C. Brody, and other safety advocates, selected the ranking winners.

The following are the top-prize ranking videos based on judges' review of overall impact, originality and cinematic style:

Remaining Six (6) Finalists

DMV Teen Safe Driving Multi-Cultural Award

Below is a list of all the directors who submitted a qualifying video entry. Only the student director is listed below, although most video contest entries came from a group effort by students. The number listed after each high school represents the number of entries submitted from that school. An asterisk (*) next to a student director's name signifies that the entry was one of the five top winners. Two asterisks (**) next to a student director's name indicates that the entry was one of the six finalists in the contest.

Arts at the Capitol Theater (Willimantic)

Emily Ann Chromik**

Owen Collins

Joshua Giroux

Adelina Hall

Daniel Marinelli

Rachel Martin*

Evan Saunders

Sarah Smith

Jonathan Winicki

Branford High School

Tess Palluzzi

Paige LeComer

Peyton Jackson

Sofia Langou

Dakota Lawson

Kayah Velasquez

Jacob Zielinsky

Dylan Arre

Nemar Alexander

Josue Cardona

Brett Gentry

Alexander Hetu

Cameron Lovett

Makayla Mowel*

Gabrielle Ruggiero

Tristan Spence

Akini Stevenson

Jessica Coughlin

Cory Hassman*

Matthew Quickly

Brendan Rea

Randy Begin

Gianni LoMonaco**

Drew Montgomery**

Nate Palumbo

Reid Staples

Shane Sweitzer*

Annabel Hartgan

Peyton Murray

Heather Abdullah

Kailee Collins

Vincent Walliser

Rebecca Alaimo

Ji Yuan Cheng**

Victoria Chong

Lucas Johnson

Isabel Mugovero

Griffin Roderick

Timothy Zack

Alexcina Figueroa

Terrance Hunt

J. Stephen Joseph II

Carly Karajanis

Nylie Sauffian

Treyana Wearing

Joshua Wagner

Gabriel AmayaI*

Jake Gershon

Ashley McDonald

Joseph Benitez

Michael Dydzuhn

Christopher Glogan

Thomas McKane

Dylan Meade

Zachary Palmieri

Ryan Tedesco

Jack VanGemert

Matthew Tung

Georgia Connick**

Renata Pastuszak

Richard Gillete

Dean Jones

Mackenzie Schaeffer

North Haven High School 

Aidan Coyle

Amanda Mocolino

Zack Holcomb

Michael Quick

Nicholas Bartos**

Victoria Davis

Maximo Catala

Andrew Fulop

Scott Skenyan

Lucy Burr

Mackenzie Campunaro

Shepherd Caruso

Shawn Conroy

Shannon Demers

Oliver Falla

Marlena Freitas

Eli Griswold

Ethan Iglehart

Matthew Littlefield

Patrick Madaus

Andrew Myslik

Alexandra Norman

Raj Patel

Sam Schavoir

Paola Vangjeli

Katie Winchester

Jonathan Bautista

Christopher Cohen

William Garrett

David Mann

Aidan Krala

Kyle Lathrop

Kevin McDaniel

Christopher Janocha

Frank Lugossy
Roberto Ordonez

Hannah Sather

Spencer Gaunt

Brian Vazquez

Drew Chura

Matthew Terry

Frederick Augur