HOLLAND, Mich. — A Holland High School senior has received national recognition for her documentary on education equity.
Karinna Martinez won an honorable mention and a $250 prize in C-SPAN's national documentary competition. The contest, which drew 1,700 entries from across the country, challenged students to create a film addressing the theme "Your Message to the President: What Issue Is Most Important to You or Your Community?"
Martinez's five-and-a-half-minute documentary, titled "The Road to the American Dream: Worthiness & Representation in Education," focuses on the importance of quality education for minority students.
"My whole theme is kind of the fact that education is really what can help people bring us to the American dream," Martinez said. "Yet education isn't equitable right now. So without equitable education, not everybody is able to achieve that American dream."
The young filmmaker, who aspires to become a teacher, spent two months creating the documentary using her mother's camera and editing on her phone.
"I was just kind of thinking about the things that were important to me, which is education since I want to be a teacher, and I just think that it's really important that we think about students of color and how education is so different for them," Martinez explained.
In her film, Martinez addresses the issue of underrepresentation in education: "In our country so many students are underrepresented, and they are not receiving quality mentors. Holland is working to make a change in education; now it is time to make that change nationwide."
Despite the challenges of creating her first mini documentary, Martinez found the experience rewarding. "I didn't really think I'd win anything in it, since this was my first time making like a mini documentary. So, it was just really exciting," she said.
After graduation, Martinez plans to attend Hope College. While she acknowledges it's unlikely, she hopes her documentary might reach the president and convey its important message about educational equity.
If you would like to watch Karrina's video or the other winners, click here.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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