Contest Winners and Prizes

Through Your Lens received more than 350 remarkable photos and essays from students, teachers and community leaders across the nation. Of these many incredible entries, our panel of judges selected five student winners; more photos and stories were selected to be shown in the Through Your Lens exhibit in the Russell Rotunda on Capitol Hill; and more still will be published in a Through Your Lens book.

Congratulations to the student winners:

Team Spirit
Allison from McKees Rocks, PA

Speed Limit 20
Danielle from Harrisburg, AR

A Normal Classroom At Douglass
Dominic from Baltimore

Broken Window
Ian from Baltimore

"Higher" Education
Shelby from Mesa, AZ

All of the winning entries deliver a vivid message about school buildings in a creative and unique way.

Judging Panel

The Through Your Lens judging panel includes:

• Avijit Halder, student from Born into Brothels
• Ed Kashi, award-winning photojournalist & filmmaker
• Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequalities
• Kari Lydersen, author and journalist
• Wendy Puriefoy, executive director of the Public Education Network
• Stephen Voss, photographer

Judging Criteria

The judging panel selected photos and stories that show how a school building—its classrooms, hallways, bathrooms, athletic facilities, cafeteria, offices, fields—supports or hampers:

• Teaching and learning
• The environment
• Teacher or student physical or mental health
• Community vitality

Judges considered whether the entry is:

• Inspiring (Does it make me want to act?)
• Entertaining (Does it make me want to tell my friends about it?)
• Clear Message (Is the message easy to understand?)
• Originality (Does it convey the message in a unique and creative way?)

Student Winners

Five student winners will receive a Vado pocket video camcorder by Creative Labs. These winners will be announced at the exhibit opening on October 5, 2009.

Book and Online Gallery

Many more entries will be published in a Through Your Lens book and in an online gallery.

Click here to view the online gallery.

More details about the book will be coming soon.