Junior Kelcey Lorenzo received two top video production awards on April 27, 2012, for her film shorts Internet: Good or Bad? and Break Stereotypes.

Lorenzo’s Internet: Good or Bad? won first place in the news writing category in the statewide ʻŌlelo Youth Exchange Awards . Her 27-second public service announcement Breaking Stereotypes won second place in the statewide HMSA Teen Video Awards.

Both Lorenzo and video production teacher Mr. Jay Paʻa were pleasantly surprised with her wins.

“I was shocked that I won. Usually the awards go to seniors in DVP 2 [Digital Video Production 2] and I’m only in DVP 1,” Lorenzo said.

She estimated that the total time spent on her ʻŌlelo video was roughly three weeks. The video was about teens and the effects that the Internet and social networking have on them. She spoke to members of the police department and students on-campus for the information in her story.

The inspiration for Lorenzo’s video came from observations of teens’ interaction habits.

“Everyone’s on the Internet nowadays. I feel like we’re losing the desire for real social interaction,” she said.

Break Stereotypes was an especially exciting triumph for Mr. Paʻa.

“This award is the most popular media competition in the state. It’s the most prestigious, but it’s also the most difficult to win. Unlike the ʻŌlelo competition where they have a bunch of categories you can try to win in, the HSMA Teen Video’s are only PSA’s. On top of that, each one is only 27 seconds long. So the fact that Kelcey placed second is super, super good,” Mr. Paa said.

First place for the HMSA Teen Video Awards went to long-time champion Waianae High School, who also won overall best video in the competition.

Nā Koa Media has received the first place award in the ʻŌlelo Youth Exchange Awards four times since they first entered in 2007. The digital production class had winners in 2012, 2011, 2008 and 2007.