Corvallis and Bend teams also earn prizes
Salem, OR — Students at Parkrose High School in Portland won $500 for their first-place video titled “The Safety Bros” in an annual safety video contest that promotes young worker safety and the importance of speaking up.
Bouncing with music, energy, and humor, the video features a duo of workplace safety and health bros who rally a group of workers to the cause of speaking up and working safe by spurring them to join “a most excellent song and dance number.”
The hip-hop-infused bros, clad in leather jackets and shades, lead the dancing, clapping, and singing while rapping about on-the-job hazards, including old equipment, faulty wires, messy floors, and a lack of training.
Parkrose High School also won a matching amount of prize money.
Chad McAdams, a senior at Parkrose who plays one of the safety bros, said the first-place win “was just really a big and awesome accomplishment for all of us to do.” And he and his video-producing teammates learned a lot along the way. “There’s no reason you shouldn’t say something if you don’t think what you’re doing is safe,” he said. “If you don’t say something, you can really get hurt.”
This year’s contest was McAdams’ second time participating in the safety video contest. He directed 2018’s “Welcome to Recyc Corp,” for which the Parkrose team tied for third place. McAdams hopes to become a filmmaker. “I’m thinking more of like a director who makes original films based off their own writing,” he said. “I have big plans for film.”
The other members of the winning Parkrose High School team are:
Shanahan Sweet
Jason Taylor
Nayely Interian
Mason Swinehart
Hunter Fields
Waymond Crowder
Austin Audette
Zack Tudor
Julia Bardocz
Mary Dinh
Clayton Espenel
Adrian Phanh
Phong Ta
Jonathan Hawes
Sam Adjibogoun
Ryan Vacano
Kim Townsend
Kaley Easton
Kayla Sanders
Aida Najafabadi
Anthony Xiong
Veshawn Saechao
Ryan Matthews
Ashley Moua
Shade Courtney
Alex Viegas Dias
James Jasso-Commack
Julius Hardman
Hunter Osborn
Denis Ramic
Fue Chee Vang
Calvin Haynes
Alexis Budar
Griffin Clover
Daniel Rodriguez Sanchez
Jet Vang
Timothy Vu
Aallan McKenzie
Ashley Jackson
Oscar Sieber
Sam Madden
Tayquaan Jackson
Carson Schafer
Matthew Silver
Ryan Nguyen
Giezi Tenorio-Robledo
Second- and third-place prizes also were awarded. They are as follows:
Second place ($400)
“Safety Joe”
Crescent Valley High School, Corvallis
Created by:
Danny Mason
Alex Vartanov
Third place ($300)
“Anytime, Anyplace”
Summit High School, Bend
Created by:
Marvin Walder
Ryan Walker
Olivia McGean
Amberly Schreinerwood
The creators of the top videos were presented their awards on Saturday during a special screening at Northern Lights Theatre and Pub in Salem. Sponsored by the Oregon Young Employee Safety Coalition (O[yes]), the annual video contest focuses on teen workers, who are twice as likely to be injured on the job, according to federal studies.
The contest is designed to increase awareness about safety for young workers, with the theme of “Speak up. Work safe.” Students were asked to create a 90-second or less video with a teen job safety and health message. The videos were judged on creativity, production value, youth appeal, and the overall safety and health message.
All of the winning videos, as well as the other finalists, are available for viewing on YouTube: