Marjory Stoneman Douglas Students Win Best Short Film Award at National Competition

WMSD-TV, the TV/Film Program at MSD led by teacher and advisor Eric Garner, took 20 students to compete in the marquee student broadcasting award event. Students Riley Walsh, Ava Thomas, and Ellis Reuvers won First Place for the MSD squad in the short film category.

The students had eight hours to film, edit, and produce a short film under the category’s contest rules. Students also competed in other events aimed at testing their knowledge and skills in the field of student news broadcasting and film.

Students in Garner’s Digital Video Technology class audition at the beginning of the school year to become part of the WMSD National Competition Team.

“These are the best high school TV/Film programs in the country competing head-to-head, and WMSD-TV students consistently do well in all their competitions throughout the year,” said Garner.

MSD senior Riley Walsh, the film director who led the WMSD-TV short film team, credited the “the most genuinely amazing and talented people” in the school’s broadcast program, particularly Thomas and Reuvers for their work on the film.

“Winning Student Television Network’s Short Film category was a lot of hard work that started far before the convention started,” said Walsh.

“My team and I had multiple 6-hour practices, script writing and character-building sessions, and group bonding events throughout the year to help prepare us. When the convention finally happened, it was just applying what we had practiced and working together that helped us bring home a first-place victory,” Walsh added.

Garner, who’s been teaching professionally for 32 years and at MSD for 18 years, is a previous MSD Teacher of the Year winner.

Before coming to MSD he taught English and other broadcasting related classes at South Miami Senior High School in Miami-Dade County and also worked as a professional news photographer, according to MSD’s Eagle Eye News.

“Being a part of [the Student Television Network] has been an incredible experience for the students in Digital Video Technology,” said Garner. “They take all the skills they are learning in the classroom and apply them in a high-pressure, high-quality, high-expectation situation.”

Marjory Stoneman Douglas students at the  2025 Student Television Network Convention in Tampa. {Photo by Eric Garner, WMSD-TV Teacher and Advisor}

Founded in 1999, the Student Television Network supports and encourages scholastic broadcasting while providing a collaborative forum for educators to share ideas, ask questions, and learn from industry professionals.

The network focuses on film, multimedia, and other forms of communication taught to students in grades 6-12 across middle and high schools.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas students at the  2025 Student Television Network Convention in Tampa. {Photo by Eric Garner, WMSD-TV Teacher and Advisor}

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