Spotlight Community Impact Awards

Media Power Youth is proud to introduce the 2026 winners of the Spotlight Community Impact Awards, which were announced at the New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival. These awards recognize student storytellers who shine a light on the people and programs making a positive difference in New Hampshire schools and communities.

The idea for the awards grew out of conversations with educators, parents, community leaders and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation about the future of public education. One theme continued to emerge: young people are often left out of conversations about the communities they help shape every day. Media Power Youth created the Spotlight Community Impact Awards to help change that.

The awards invited students to use the power of media to recognize the educators, mentors, organizations and programs strengthening their schools and communities. Entries were judged on three key criteria:

• Community impact
• Narrative storytelling
• Technical skill

The winning entries demonstrate how young people can use media to foster understanding, build connections and amplify stories that deserve to be heard.

View the Winning Photo/Essay Here

View the Winning Film

The Spotlight Community Impact Awards were presented as part of the 2026 New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival, which brings together students, educators, families and filmmakers from across the state to celebrate student storytelling.

This year’s festival received a record-breaking 99 film submissions from 15 schools representing every region of New Hampshire. Students explored themes including friendship, mental health, environmental stewardship, identity and belonging, demonstrating creativity, technical talent and thoughtful perspectives on the world around them.

Media Power Youth was honored to partner with the New Hampshire Media Teachers Group and is grateful for the generous support of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation in helping create opportunities for young people to share their voices through media.

NHHSSFF Grand Prize Winners Chase Coffin, Raylynn Despres, Amayah Depina, Ryan Moreira, Sawyer Penny, Yanderson Marte and teacher Jeff Leone of Nashua Technology Center.

We’d like to express our gratitude to all of the student creators who participated, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the volunteers from NH Media Teachers, our awards committee volunteers, judges and photographers: Susan & Stephen White, Elyza Davis, Mary-Paige Provost, Steve Shannon, Anna & Tony Sabato, Dave Faulkner, Mike Harnois, Peter Johnson, Dan Young, Julio Del Sesto, Elyse Ruback, Dr. Nancy Pearson, Melanie Plenda, Andy DeMeo, Tyler Pare, Cathleen Toomey, Melissa Brayall, Jason Corkum, David Lozeau, Miles Woodworth, Don Grover, Kristen Deveau, Chandra Boudreau, Sean Coughlin, Chris Hazel, Karen Robinson, Aleesha Pinkham, Caitlyn Moran and Heather Inyart.