Kirkwood High School Students Win Prizes in C-SPAN’s National Documentary Competition

As the nation commemorates its historic 250th anniversary, C-SPAN announced that six Kirkwood High School students have earned national recognition as 2026 winners in C-SPAN’s annual StudentCam documentary competition.

The following students won prizes: 

• Tripp Somerville is a second-prize winner and will receive $1,500 for the documentary, “Government Compact - The Law or Threat to Universities.” This documentary will air on C-SPAN's networks on April 12 throughout the day.

• Trip Nieman is a third-prize winner and will receive $750 for the documentary, “Who Gets To Live Here: Diversity and a Community Changing.”  

• Luisa Marietta is a third-prize winner and will receive $750 for the documentary, “The 1904 Philippine Reservation: Forgotten Pieces of American History.”

• Bennett Roettger is a third-prize winner and will receive $750 for the documentary, “The Delmar Divide, A Line That Separates a City.”

• Daphne Wassel is a third-prize winner and will receive $750 for the documentary, “Fixing Our Aging Government.”

• Isaiah Smith is an honorable mention prize winner and will receive $250 for the documentary, “Mill Creek Valley: America's Broken Promise.”

Students completed the projects as part of their AP Language Arts classes, taught by Janet DePasquale, Eric Turley, and Adam Rowland.

In recognition of the United States’ Semiquincentennial, C-SPAN — in cooperation with its cable and satellite television partners — challenged middle and high school students across the country to examine the enduring power and relevance of the Declaration of Independence by exploring:

(1) its influence on a key moment from America’s 250-year history

 – or –

 (2) how the values stated in the foundational document touch on a contemporary issue impacting them or their communities.

 Through this project-based learning experience, students engaged in in-depth research, critical analysis, and original storytelling to explore matters of both personal and national importance. The response was extraordinary: C-SPAN received more than 1,800 documentary submissions from nearly 4,000 students representing 38 states and Washington, D.C., underscoring the competition’s broad national reach and civic impact.

By earning recognition in this highly competitive national program, these students join a distinguished group of civically engaged young filmmakers whose work contributes to a deeper public understanding of America’s founding principles and their continued relevance today.

 C-SPAN is funded by America’s cable, satellite and streaming television companies as a commercial-free public service. In Kirkwood and St. Louis, C-SPAN is available through Spectrum, our local partner in StudentCam.

High school students competed on a regional level, with the United States divided into three regions: East, Central, and West. Middle school students were judged on a national basis. The grand-prize winner was selected nationally among all regions and grade levels.  

 The annual StudentCam competition is funded by the C-SPAN Education Foundation. Videos were evaluated by a panel of educators and C-SPAN representatives based on the thoughtful examination of the competition’s theme, quality of expression, inclusion of varying sides of the documentary’s topic, and effective incorporation of C-SPAN programming.