Kapa‘a High School advertising students shine in competition

Earlier this month five Kapa‘a High School students traveled to O‘ahu for the inaugural Hawai‘i High School Advertising Competition. The team of Adam Kerlin, Becky Cameron, Mark Baltazar, Whitney Rowe and Dominique Bartolo competed against 14 other high schools from across the state during the two-day event. 

Teams were given the task of producing a three-part advertising campaign consisting of a public service announcement, print advertisement and an opinion editorial. 

On day one the students were notified of the mystery topic they would have to base their three part campaign on. This year’s theme was “Race to Save the Environment,” and each school was asked to focus on the promotion of recycling plastic bags. Each team was then given 14 hours to compile their PSA, editorial and advertisement. 

On day two the 15 schools were divided into four smaller groups for preliminary judging. The preliminary judges in each room were asked to select a winner from their room who would go on to compete with the other three room winners for the title of “best in show.” 

Kapa‘a’s campaign played off of today’s teen infatuation with fashion. Their slogan, “Recycling … Always in Season,” fit the target audience of teens ages 15 to 18 well and impressed the judges. 

After presentations the students went to various advertising workshops and skills testing while the judges deliberated. At noon students were led to the ballroom for the awards banquet. After business and marketing awards were given out, Kapa‘a’s team was notified they had won the preliminary round and were among the top four teams. 

All finalists were asked on stage and the winning PSA was shown on an overhead projector. The team was shocked and honored when their PSA was shown announcing them as the winners. Each of the five students was given $50 cash and a new iPod Nano.