Finding your way is difficult for teenagers today.

There are many temptations that can distract a young person from reaching graduation, such as alcohol and drug use.

For three teens at the Floyd County Education Center, they hope more of their peers will find their way to graduation day as a result of a video they produced that has been recognized with a national award.  

C.J. Daras, Tripp Kines and Katie Wise produced a short video that placed first in the National Alternative Education Association Video Contest. The three students entered the national contest in November and were recently informed of their top placement. The first place honor will earn the school the contest’s top prize of $400.

The video features Floyd County Education Center students and the problems they face reaching their graduation goal. Bullying, drugs, alcohol and peer pressure are just a few of the obstacles keeping young people from graduation.

The video captures a young person on the path to graduation. The students’ key to graduation is to stay on the path no matter

the distraction. The light at the end of the journey leads to graduation from high school.

The students and their faculty adviser, Eric Burkhalter, will be honored at an awards ceremony in Atlanta in February. Videos submitted to the contest were to be longer than two minutes and less than five minutes to be considered.

The works submitted were judged based on overall impact effectiveness of conveying the theme, artistic merit and technical proficiency.