San Jon student wins national video contest

A San Jon High School student was a grand prize winner of a national video contest that urges utility customers to call before starting digging projects.

San Jon junior Saisravya Bandla's 59-second video tied for first place with a Pennsylvania student in the "Know What's Below - Call Before You Dig" competition.

The video shows Saisravya using a self-created pop-up book and her voiceover to convey the importance of calling utilities before proceeding with digging to prevent damage of underground lines.

Her father and sponsor for the contest, Raj, a math teacher at San Jon, said her sister, Saisruthi, held the video camera during the shoot, and her mother, Radha, provides the second set of hands in the footage.

"She loves to do creative work like video editing and animations, and participating in competitions became her way of getting feedback and improving on video making," Raj said of his daughter in an email to the Quay County Sun. "She wanted to try something different besides animation and general filming. This thought led to the creation of the interactive book."

The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/QEjDdJu1-Kg.

Saisravya won a laptop valued at $1,500, and Raj received a classroom grant of $811 for being her sponsor for the contest.

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, which announced Saisravya's victory last week, stated in a news release it was "thrilled" to learn of the honor.

The competition was created in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration and the National Energy Foundation.

Saisravya and San Jon classmate Jenna Lopez also were among the winners of the New Mexico Governor's STEM Challenge in December. They designed a solar-powered recycling device that electronically sorts aluminum cans and dispenses coins to donors.