NORWALK - Six students in the Cerritos College film class were honored with a certificate of appreciation on Feb. 16 for producing public service announcements for the St. Francis Medical Center Trauma Department.Students in the Television Production class produced the PSAs as a class assignment to help the local community. It all began with a phone call from Paul Carrillo, injury prevention coordinator at the hospital. He asked for help in producing anti-violence promos and visited the class last semester with associates from St. Francis as well as from Southern California Crossroads, a non-profit organization that assists children from low-income households in violence-plagued neighborhoods. In a short presentation, they inspired the entire class to produce PSAs creating awareness of domestic and gang violence prevention. For most of the 17 students, it was their first video project. "What was remarkable to see is how they brainstormed, work-shopped, pitched ideas to Paul Carrillo and his associates, then refined those ideas into 30-second messages and virtually produced the PSAs with very little supervision," said professor Steven Hirohama. The first-cuts were submitted by the 17 students for review in late October and then they were re-edited by the end of the fall semester. Eleven students completed the PSAs. Jocelyn Coleman, 18, produced a PSA on cyber bullying. "The most challenging part of doing the PSA was finding a way to get the message through that would be potent enough and make an emotional appeal to viewers to see what really happens on an everyday basis and that it isn't just a joke," she said. Students who were presented certificates include Chayanne Acosta, Rodrigo Arzate, Jocelyn Coleman, Ryan Hickenbottom, Cristina Navarro and Daniel Nieto.

********** Published: March 01, 2012 - Volume 10 - Issue 46