As COVID 19 spreads across the world, putting many in new and uncomfortable
situations, MRI still finds opportunities for the scholars. On June 29, 2020 the winners of the
GET SMART ABOUT DRUGS CONTEST were announced. This was a creativity contest where
the scholars had to create a CLEAN and family friendly song, video (less than 10 min), photo
series, podcast (less than 30 min), drawing, short story, and/or poem addressing the dangers of
drug and alcohol abuse, prevention, and the importance of mental health awareness.
All Baltimore City youth artists ages 12-24 or Media Rhythm Institute enrolled students
were eligible for the competition. There were TWO categories for the GET SMART ABOUT
DRUGS COMPETITION:
Best Written Submission (this includes poems, songs and short stories)
Winner receives Audio Recording Start Up Bundle
Best Produced Submission (this includes video, photo series, podcast)
Winner receives Lighting, Green Screen, & Cell Phone Mobile Studio Startup Kit.
Thanks to donation from the local hip hop community, all participants were paid a $75.00
submission stipend sponsored through @whocamille . Winning participants additonally
received $250 worth of equipment related to their category
Judge Voting was recorded live via Zoom and the categories to be judged on were: Creativity, Topic, and Impact.
The Visual Production Category Winner was Naomi Jackson, Winning First Place with 41 points!
There was a TIE for the Written/Musical Composition Category between Derric Massey &
Soquoria Bolden, coming in second place with the identical score of 33 points!
All participants did an amazingly unique job, which made it hard for the judges to decide! All in
all, the participating scholars were stoked about the rewards of their efforts and the winners are
encouraged to keep putting their own abilities to the test. A big THANK YOU goes out to The
Real Project and Behavioral Health Systems Baltimore for letting us be a part of this amazing opportunity.
Check out some of our scholar submissions on this Contest Playlist
Want to get involved? Follow us on Facebook at Media Rhythm Institute to see
glimpses of our new virtual class experience or to stay updated on upcoming
programming. Visit our new interactive website at mriprograms.org and send us your
email, then you’ll have access to our NEW VIRTUAL PROGRAMS, monthly newsletter
filled with instructor highlights and more!