Students will be honored at a special awards ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 1 at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids. All of the finalists' public service announcements will be shown at the ceremony.
Students will receive a cash prize in the form of Meijer gift cards of $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second place, $500 for third place and $75 for fourth through 10th places. In all, the Meijer Great Choices Student Film Festival will award more than $21,000 in prizes to students throughout the state.
The goal of the Great Choices Film Festival is to encourage Michigan youth to become personally engaged in three challenges of our future: Building Character, Celebrating Diversity and Promoting Healthy Lifestyles. The project, creating a 30-second PSA (public service announcement), requires students to identify a problem and show the solution that leads to a Great Choice concerning one of the three topics. Within the process, students use their critical thinking skills, writing skills, technical skills, creative talents, and more – all in an effort to demonstrate to their audience what makes a great choice!
In the fall of 2019, the winning PSA's in each category will be reproduced on DVDs and distributed to schools across the state as tools for their Character Education, Health Education and Diversity programs.