Submitted photo Taking part in creating the PSA video were, on top of the vehicle, Haylee Ketterman and Morgan Raines, and standing from left, PRO Officer Rocky Hebb, Carlee White, Lindsey Thompson, Maiah Teter, and PRO Officers Daniel Pennington and Ethan Carr.

HARMAN — A Harman School teacher and a group of her students earned second place in a statewide contest for the video they made promoting safety and avoiding underage drinking.

The school won second place, and a prize of $2,500, in the 11th annual NO School Spirits PSA (Public Service Announcement) contest, presented by the state Alcohol Beverage Control Administration.

More than 450 students, representing 37 high schools and middle schools from across the state, submitted 67 video entries.

Natalie Josimovich, Harman School’s art teacher, created the video along with a group of students aged 16 to 18, she told The Inter-Mountain Monday.

“We chose to go with not drinking and driving,” she said of the video’s theme. “There were other options but that’s what we chose to focus on.

“The movies had to be only 30 seconds, so it was kind of hard to come up with a story that we could show that quickly. We came up with a scene where it looked like they were having a party, and then of course, they were pretending to drink.

“They decided to go get in their car and go somewhere, and then we kind of did like special effects, where it looked like they were swerving around the road, and then they crash into a tree,” she said.

“And then we actually had our PRO officers come and help us with the video as well. They came with their police cars, and were in their uniforms and everything.

“We shot it about five minutes from the school. One of my students, her parents didn’t mind if we used their house,” Josimovich said.

“We had two cars, one that was already wrecked, and then a similar-looking car that was drivable. So we kind of swapped them out so it looked like they had crashed it.”

Josimovich and the students shot and edited the video themselves.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “This is the first time we’ve ever entered the contest, so the kids were super excited to hear that we got second place.”

The contest is an educational program designed to prevent underage drinking and to recognize the proactive steps students can take to be safe.

“Involving our youth in a program to prevent underage drinking can be an effective tool to save lives,” WVABCA Commissioner Fred Wooton said in a state press release. “Clearly, the program is successfully serving a great need and public interest continues to grow. The contest was very competitive this year, with many high-quality video entries.”

First prize, and $5,000, went to Shady Spring High School in Raleigh County.

Josimovich said there are plans for state officials to visit Harman School in April to present the award. The video will be shown to the student body during that event, she said.