On Thursday, June 4, 2026, two B-CC students, junior Eton Smith and sophomore Alana Anantham, were presented with honorable mention awards for the C-SPAN StudentCam competition. These awards were given to Smith and Anantham by Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen. In addition to being congratulated and having their awards presented by a Senator, both Smith and Anantham were sent a congratulatory video from Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
The C-SPAN StudentCam is an annual student-made video documentary competition. The requirements for submitting material include: being a high school student, incorporating C-SPAN footage, being 5-6 minutes in length, and including a variety of perspectives and viewpoints, among others.
This year, the competition’s theme highlighted America’s 250th anniversary. Students had the option to select whether the Declaration of Independence impacted a single moment in American history or how its values shape contemporary issues within their community.
Junior Eton Smith’s documentary titled Free Trade and the Declaration of Independence focuses on the impact of the centuries-old Declaration of Independence on the role of the United States in global trade.
To come up with such a unique idea, Smith had to carefully extract information from the Declaration of Independence. “I went through the Declaration of Independence, and I looked at all the grievances,” Smith explains. Once he went through all of the grievances, he selected the one that ensured the king could not impede trade, and realized there was a connection to the modern-day United States. Smith touched on the reasons why he chose his topic. “I looked at the history of the United States, and our tariff policy has changed over time, and you know, I found it really interesting, so I decided to tell the story of that,” Smith states.
Sophomore Alana Anantham covered the effects of ideas founded in colonial America, as well as in the Declaration of Independence, and their effects on modern climate change, and how the U.S. continues to handle it. Anantham’s video is a unique and extremely interesting mix of scientific, social, and political information about climate change. Her documentary is titled “How Dare You!“
Anantham was inspired by her perspective on climate change and how she feels young people view it. “I think that a lot of people just think ‘there’s nothing {they} can do about it’ or ‘it’s already too far gone’…and I think that’s the wrong mindset,” Anantham notes.
Both Smith and Anantham had unique processes and concepts that inspired their documentaries. Both students also encourage others to pursue documentary production if they have a passion for it. “It’s really fun to do, and it lets you share your ideas,” Anantham says.
Being a part of this contest and being recognized is an extremely impressive feat. Smith and Anantham were two of 150 students across the nation to receive an award for the C-SPAN StudentCam competition.
