Environmental Film Wins Festival Prize

It's been quite a week for Mt. Lebanon High School senior Austin Wright. First, there was the long-awaited premiere Sunday of the movie "Every 15 Minutes," a documentary on the dangers of drinking and driving which was produced by Austin and worked on by a group of more than 50 other Mt. Lebanon High School students.

Then, came the news that he will be featured in a U.S. News & World Report article in the May 26 edition. "So much is happening right now," said Austin, 18. The article, which is already available online at www.usnews.com, is about Pittsburgh high school students entering an environmental film festival sponsored by Bayer Corp. and the Carnegie Science Center's SciTech Initiative.

Austin's video, "Stop Waiting for the World to Change," won the narrative prize in the festival called the Creating Awareness and Understanding of Our Surrounding Environment Challenge High School Film Festival.

Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/08143/883599-55.stm

Pittsburgh High Schools Compete In The C.A.U.S.E.

When Austin Wright isn't running four shows for the local TV station or filming for WTAE (Pittsburgh's ABC affiliate), he's in classes at Mt. Lebanon High School. Recently, he's been working on Every 15 Minutes, a film about the deadly consequences of drunk driving, to be aired shortly before his high school prom.

And earlier this spring, his documentary video on creative ways to recycle, Stop Waiting for the World to Change, won the Narrative Prize in the Creating Awareness and Understanding of Our Surrounding Environment Challenge High School Film Festival—an honor accompanied by $300 for him and $1,500 for his school.

Link: www.tinyurl.com/6r637n