A ‘Whale’ of a Video: High School Students from Washington, D.C. Area Win Grand Prize in Toyota TeenDrive365 Video Challenge

Silver Spring, Md. April 29, 2016 /3BL Media/ – If you were steering a beluga whale down the street, would you risk sneaking a peek at your phone? Probably not. High school sophomores Matthew Post and John Caporaletti agree, and in their new public service announcement (PSA), they encourage their peers to drive their vehicles with the same care and attention. Today Toyota and Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, announced that the Sherwood High School students of Montgomery County Public Schools in Olney, Md. (outside of Washington, D.C.) won the grand prize in the ToyotaTeenDrive365 Video Challenge for their video “For the Whales.” You can view their winning video here.

Now in its fifth year, the Toyota and Discovery Education challenge invites teens across the country to create public service videos to inspire their friends and peers to drive more safely. Matthew and John’s video provides an innovative perspective on the seriousness of driving with the stark reminder that just like a beluga whale, a standard sedan weighs a whopping two tons. With this in mind, the pair encourage drivers to eliminate risky behaviors and focus on the road. The teens will receive $15,000 and will work with a Discovery film crew to reshoot their video into a TV-ready PSA to air on a variety of Discovery networks.

“We were delighted by Matthew and John’s unexpected take on the huge responsibility of driving a vehicle,” said Mike Goss, General Manager, Social Innovation, Toyota Motor North America. “Their video is clever and funny and best of all, it works. It really makes you stop and think about why it’s so important – as they put it – to drive smart. We’re excited to help them share this message with teens everywhere.”
 
“We applaud this year’s grand prize winners Matthew and John and their use of digital storytelling, creativity and humor to influence the behavior of their peers and ultimately help save lives,” said Bill Goodwyn, President and CEO at Discovery Education. “The TeenDrive365 Video Challenge is about empowering young people like Matthew and John to address the critical issue of distracted driving, and they did it with smarts and creativity. We look forward to their PSA running across Discovery’s networks and influencing other drivers out there to be more cautious.”
 
“We hope this video inspires fellow Sherwood High School friends and students to drive more safely, we hope it sends a broader message across the Washington, D.C. area, and across the nation,” said William Gregory, Principal of Sherwood High School. “Driving a car takes tremendous responsibility – for teens and adults of all ages – and Matthew and John perfectly illustrated that.”

Matthew and John’s video was chosen by a panel of judges at Toyota and Discovery Education from more than 1,500 submissions – the most ever received in contest history. The other winners include:

Second Place: Samuel Brown and Lillian Smith, students at Oklahoma City Public Schools’ Classen School of Advanced Studies in Oklahoma City, Okla., will receive $10,000, as well as a behind-the-scenes trip to a live taping of a Velocity network show for their video, “Scary Movie.”

Third Place: Blake Rozas and Jackson Ingraham, students at Eanes Independent School District’s Westlake High School in Austin, Texas will receive $7,500 for “Brain Surgery.”

People’s Choice: Blake Takushi and Tyler Mora, students at Fort Bend Independent School District’s Kempner High School and Austin High School in Sugar Land, Texas, who were chosen online by public vote, will receive $5,000 and a behind-the-scenes trip to a taping of a Velocity network show.

 
The additional seven finalists will receive $2,500, and four regional winners will receive $1,000. Their videos can be viewed here.
 
The challenge is part of Toyota TeenDrive365 (www.TeenDrive365.com), a comprehensive initiative to help teens and parents become safer drivers together. Building on the programs Toyota has offered for more than a decade, it offers a collection of online tools, events, expert advice and tips as well as social media elements.  
 

About Toyota 
Toyota (NYSE:TM), the world's top automaker and creator of the Prius and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands. Over the past 50 years, we’ve built more than 30 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 42,000 people (more than 33,000 in the U.S.). Toyota operates 1,800 North American dealerships (1,500 in the U.S. alone which sold almost 2.5 million cars and trucks in 2015) – and about 80 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 20 years are still on the road today.
 
Toyota partners with philanthropic organizations across the country, with a focus on education, safety, and the environment. As part of this commitment, we share the company’s extensive know-how garnered from building great cars and trucks to help community organizations and other nonprofits expand their ability to do good. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital content for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content, professional development, and the largest professional learning community of its kind. Serving 3 million educators and over 30 million students, Discovery Education’s services are in half of U.S. classrooms, 50 percent of all primary schools in the UK, and more than 50 countries. Discovery Education partners with districts, states and like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions that increase academic achievement. Discovery Education is powered by Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the number one nonfiction media company in the world. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.
 

Media Contacts

Amy Gross for Toyota
Amy.Gross@finsbury.com, 646-805-2037
 
Shawnee Cohn, Discovery Education
shawnee_cohn@discovery.com, 240-393-5849