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Cable TV Spotlights Alliance’s Essay Contest

Mesa High School students were featured in a film production that aired on the Hallmark Channel about the "When Not to Keep a Secret" essay contest.

The APA Alliance’s "When Not to Keep a Secret" essay contest is only four years old. Nonetheless, it is already receiving attention from the national media. Such attention, of course, is not only a tribute to the value of the contest, but powerful exposure for the contest’s message.

For instance, the contest was spotlighted on National Public Radio’s "All Things Considered" in February 2001 and on NPR’s "Morning Edition" in March 2001. This past November, television’s Hallmark Channel publicized the contest as well.

Luis Valenzuela was one of the Mira Mesa High School students who participated in the essay contest.

This more recent publicity came about when a man named Lyle Jackson heard about the essay contest on NPR and decided that it would be of interest to his own audience. Jackson is a co-producer of "True North," a feature on the Hallmark Channel that explores the moral and spiritual issues that shape Americans’ lives.

Last October Jackson went to San Diego and filmed students participating in the essay contest at Mira Mesa High School. As APA Alliance President Alicia Muñoz explained to Psychiatric News, Jackson "was profoundly impressed with the students, their topics, the reasons why they chose to participate, their teachers, and their school environment—how school policies deal with disclosure."

Jackson’s six-minute film aired on the Hallmark Channel last November 25. "It does justice to the essay contest," Muñoz said. "Also, APA is credited four times during the presentation."

The "True North" film production about the essay contest can be viewed online at www.ApaAlliance.org by clicking on "Projects." Thanks to the American Psychiatric Foundation’s funding, video copies of the "True North" production are being made available free to APA members, APA district branches, schools, and educators. Requests for video copies should be sent to Angela Poblocki, P.O. Box 285, North Boston, N.Y. 14110; e-mail ang3689{at}aol.com.

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