Somerville High School has been named the winner of the 8^th Annual PSA Project hosted by Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Middlesex Partnerships for Youth, Inc., for an original video highlighting the theme of “Write the Story You Want to Tell.” Somerville High School sophomore, Desi Feldman, was the creator of the winning video, entitled “Defeat Stress.”

Click here to watch the video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkA__qQAJeg

The goal of “Write the Story You Want to Tell” is to empower students to reflect on who they are and who they want to become. Self-discovery, confidence, goal-setting and good decision making are important components of writing your own story – the story only you can tell. The overarching goal of the 2016 PSA Project is for students to communicate a direct, positive voice to other teens.

More than 200 students worked on the 52 videos submitted to the annual project.  The winning video premiered on “New England Cable News This Morning.”

“We know that students often go to their peers first for advice and guidance.  For this reason it is important to celebrate teens like Desi for advancing positive messages that encourage confidence that will have a positive impact on young people,” said District Attorney Ryan. “It has been an incredible experience to see the strong, positive messages portrayed in the videos students submitted.”

“The MPY PSA project provides students with a valuable opportunity to impact and support their peers on issues that are relevant to them,” added Mary Skipper, Superintendent of the Somerville Public Schools. “Our youth clearly have stories they want to tell, and as Desi and all of the project finalists demonstrate, their stories are powerful. Congratulations and thank you to all of the students who worked on these projects.”

Other finalists in the 2016 PSA Project were:      

Woburn Memorial High School: “Look Up”

Malden High School:  “Journey to Success”

Somerville High School: “Be a Friend”

Melrose High School:  “Notebook”

Click here to watch all the finalists’ entries: https://youtu.be/OJwNcN9kJRY

Entries were viewed and finalists were selected by a panel of school personnel, law enforcement officials and staff from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and Middlesex Partnerships for Youth.  The five PSA finalists were shown to more than 1,200 middle and high school students throughout Middlesex County in classrooms and assemblies where students cast their votes to select a winner.

The District Attorney’s PSA Project was created with Middlesex Partnerships for Youth, Inc., to spark a dialogue among teens and to include teens in the conversation on issues such as healthy relationships, substance abuse, and impaired driving.  To see past winners of the PSA Project, visit www.middlesexpartnershipsforyouth.org.

Middlesex County is the largest county in Massachusetts and one of the largest counties in the country with 54 towns and cities and 26 colleges in urban, suburban, and rural areas, comprising over one quarter of the population of Massachusetts.  The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office has offices throughout the county, including communities such as Ayer, Cambridge, Concord, Framingham, Lowell, Malden, Marlborough, Newton, Somerville, Waltham and Woburn.