Two young students at MAPS Media Institute in Hamilton have the unusual distinction of tying for first place with themselves in the 2015 Northwest Regional High School Student Awards for Excellence from the National Academy of Television Arts and Science. The awards were presented in Seattle on June 6.
The students, Caleb Hallahan and Wyatt Campbell, working with their instructor at the institute Christian Anderson, went to Darby and made two films that were entered in the Arts and Entertainment category of the competition. One was about the Darby Rodeo and the other on the community’s annual Logger Days celebration. The projects were funded by the Montana Film Office. Each film was entered separately in the competition and essentially they both tied for first place.
Peter Rosten, founder and CEO of the MAPS Media Institute, a free afterschool educational program for high school students, called the awards “jaw dropping.”
“We’ve been nominated a couple of times for awards,” said Rosten, “but to finally win and win doubly is amazing, especially since they were competing across the northwest with students in cities as large as Seattle and Portland.” He said one of the great things about these projects was getting to work in Darby. He called the projects emblematic of what MAPS is all about.”
“You can recognize the quality of your own work,” he said, “but to get third party recognition is great confirmation.”