PAMS Students Snag First Place in Drug Free PA Contest

Phoenixville Area Middle School (PAMS) is developing quite a legacy with the Sound Off! Television and Radio Public Service Announcement (PSA) Contest.

Eighth-grade students Brennigan Myers and Austin Walsh were honored at Thursday’s school board meeting for winning the statewide competition. Students create PSAs with an anti-substance abuse message and compete with others across the commonwealth.

The 30-second radio spot by Myers and Walsh was created under the direction of communications teacher Kevin Corcoran. The PSA created by Myers and Walsh dealt with choices and choosing to be substance-free.

Corcoran will join Myers and Walsh as featured guests at Temple University’s School of Communications in April to officially receive their awards.

PAMS students took first place in 2008 and 2009 in the competition, as well. In 2009,  Alexander D’Antonio and Kahjnel Norwood took top honors in the state and in 2008 PAMS students Shae Ferguson and Joe McEarlean won the contest.

High School Principal Craig Parkinson explained the contest to the school board and audience. He said the communications program at PAMS, in its sixth year, was called a “model middle school program” by Temple University’s Dr. Renee Hobbs, who founded the media education lab at the university.

The communications program teaches students how they’re targeted, as young adolescents, by advertising, Parkinson explained. Students look at media with a critical eye examine how advertising affects behavior.

The PSA by Myers and Walsh will be played on the radio throughout Pennsylvania.