Bridgehampton Students Take Home Top Prize in Video Contest

There is a moment a little more than halfway through a five-minute video put together by several students and staff at the Bridgehampton School where Ava Mack, a longtime teacher in the district, speaks about a longstanding tradition of a Thanksgiving luncheon for all students in grades pre-K through 12.

“I love the fact that in Bridgehampton, our administration still allows the friends, family and community to enjoy a lunch together,” she says. “Everybody does not do that. That is a wonderful thing and a beautiful privilege, and we need to be thankful.”

Mack’s words were a powerful way of summing up, in part, what makes the Bridgehampton School a special place, and according to her colleagues, was at least one of the reasons why the district took home the top prize in the K through eighth grade category in the Rural Schools Association of New York State student video contest.

The video, put together by Bridgehampton students, was awarded the grand prize out of more than 700 entries highlighting the power of what makes their school community unique.

The school was honored with a $1,000 prize that will go to the student council. The high school received second-place honors in the grades 9-12 category and a check for $250.

Bridgehampton teachers Hamra Ozsu, Lou Libertore and Ryan Barker helped the students put the video together, which they worked on for three months. It was primarily narrated by Student Council President Indy Cherry, a fifth-grader in the school.

Ozsu has worked in the school for 10 years as an ELL and literary specialist, and is involved in many extracurricular clubs and programs, including Elementary Student Government, and Communication and Leadership Club.

“My passion has always been to build on the school climate and school culture,” she said.

Members of the elementary student government worked on the video, including Cherry, who Ozsu described as hard-working, committed and enthusiastic. The video showcases various ways that students and staff in the school build community, from teacher-student relay races in the gym, to other community events, like the Thanksgiving luncheon.

The way the students worked to showcase the unity present in the building — by presenting the theme “The Power of One”— is what Ozsu said likely put them over the top in earning the award.

“I feel we won because of our theme,” she said. “We tried to highlight our school as a whole, and how each person, from our students to our staff, made a contribution. And it’s that contribution that gives our power as a school to move as one. We are unified and we are a family.”

She said Mack’s words featured in the video really helped to drive that message home.

“She was able to sum up how unusual it is to have a school, year after year, gather together from pre-K to 12th grade in one large room and share a meal. It demonstrates the value of togetherness and how we all need each other to celebrate milestones.

“It was important to me that we captured this on video,” she added. “I sense this every day when I step into the school.”