Sophomore Vincent Fredericks Wins Video Contest
Vincent Fredericks put his creativity to the test in developing the winning video in Huntington Bay Dental’s “Do a Good Deed” scholarship contest. The Huntington High School sophomore captured the $1,000 grand prize for his short film.
Mr. Fredericks’ video focused on a cleanup of the Caumsett State Park waterfront. On a bitterly cold winter day, the teenager collected an amazing amount of litter, some left behind by beachgoers and some that washed ashore after originating on passing boats or from other shorelines after becoming waterborne.
“I’m just trying to make Huntington a better place,”Mr. Frederick’s said near the end of the short film, which ran more than two minutes. While filling a large bag with scattered debris, the well-spoken young man came across objects large and small, including a few he could hardly move.
“We loved your video and what you did for the community through your beach cleanup,” Huntington Bay Dental’s dentists wrote to Mr. Frederick’s informing him he had won the contest. “We hope you continue to do good deeds and promote Random Acts of Kindness.”
Mr. Fredericks is a student in Huntington High School’s Creative Video II course. “Creative Video II really allows students’ personalities and creativity to shine,” said art teacher Heather Swan, who heads the video arts program. “Vinnie has a wonderful sense of humor, which he once again demonstrated in his ‘Good Deed’ video. It takes talent to make cleaning up the beach funny.”
The Huntington Bay Dental contest challenged high school students to record a video of themselves performing a good deed or random act of kindness. Videos were required to be between 1-3 minutes in length and contain footage of the contestant performing or describing the good deed that was the focus of the short film. Videos were judged on the “validity of the deed and the impact of the deed performed,” according to the application. “We strongly encourage creativity and originality.”
Caumsett State Park was once the sprawling Gold Coast estate of Marshall Field III. At 1,750 acres, it was one of the largest such estates along Long Island’s north shore. It even had its own water and electric supply. New York State acquired the estate in 1961.
“Huntington Bay Dental has been providing care to the residents of Huntington and Long Island for over 14 years,” states the contest application materials. “During that time we have been committed to actively supporting the community. Part of our efforts involves working with the youth of Long Island. We recognize that the future resides in our youth and we feel a strong responsibility in helping direct a positive future. One of the means we have found to reach this goal is to strongly encourage the youth of our community to perform random acts of kindness and good deeds every day.”