Students earn cash and help a great cause

NMI Crime Stoppers held its 2nd annual “Create a Commercial” contest for high school students this spring and received high quality video entries from local students. First place group winners, submitted by Harrison Smith at the Northern Marianas Academy, earned $500. Salvi Villanueva’s MHS team received $300 for second place; and Mona Indalecio’s KHS team received $100.

Cash prizes were given to the students to reinforce the message that Crime Stoppers awards are given in cash to tipsters who provide anonymous tips on the hotline or website and that lead to an arrest.

Entries from the prior contest were submitted to Crime Stoppers International and have received International Media Awards for 30-second commercials at the last two annual CSI conventions. Submissions from this current contest will also be submitted. The ads will air locally on MCV, Channel 41.

Also this year, public and private middle school students on Saipan were contacted and asked to participate in a poster contest. Students created amazing works of art, both hand drawn and computerized. Posters were 11” x 17” in size, colorful, and informational. Some entries will soon be posted in various businesses around the island for the public to view and enjoy.

The cash awards were divided into two categories.

For the computer generated posters, all three winners were from Hopwood Jr. High School. First place $100 winner was Raegine Camacho, second place was Therese Tenorio for $50, and third place was Joyce Alfonso, $25.

For the hand drawn posters, winners were from Saipan International School and Hopwood Jr. High. First place winner was Ji Yoon “Janice” Jung, $100; second place, Lizelle Lim, $50; third place Angie Kim, $25; with Patrick Augustine getting an honorable mention.

The excitement was contagious as cash prizes were awarded at the KSPN studio on Tuesday, April 17. One first place winner said, “I’ve been working on my poster for more than two weeks!”

Crime Stoppers is appreciative of the support of the local community. There are many unsolved crimes in the CNMI, including the disappearance last year of the Luhk sisters, the recent brutal murder of Emie Romero, and the highly publicized rape in Garapan. These criminals remain free to this day, and Crime Stoppers is committed to continuing to work with law enforcement to bring all criminals to justice. One solid tip from the community to the Crime Stoppers hotline may be enough to allow DPS to solve these horrific crimes. This tournament allows the local program to function for an entire year with its entirely volunteer board.

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