With eight video submissions for their annual Health Video Contest—more than any year since COVID—Warren Coalition staff and board members found it difficult to determine the four winners for 2025. However, selections were made, and during the week of April 7th, the winners were presented with their first-place prizes of $125 Amazon gift cards: Kenny Buhl of Warren County Middle School took first place in Getting Quality Sleep, while fellow WCMS student Alaina Lauffer claimed first prize in the Eating Healthy/Nutrition category. Ryder Bowen, a student at John Paul the Great Montessori Academy, took home the top award in the Drinking Enough Water category. Landon Marut of Legacy Christian Academy won the top prize in the Exercise category. Each of the students received $125 in Amazon gift cards.
The contest was open to all middle school students, ages 11-14, in Warren County. Students could elect to submit a video about getting regular exercise, getting quality sleep, drinking enough water, or maintaining healthy eating habits. The contest was held as part of the Warren Coalition’s WAHOO (Working to Achieve Healthy Outcomes and Opportunities) program, which is funded by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth. Their videos will be used as healthy living ads throughout Warren County in the late spring/early summer.
“This was a great group of submissions, and it was not an easy decision,” said Celeste Brooks, Community Outreach Coordinator. “Our youth representative to the Coalition board, Lauren Foltz, took the lead on the judging, with several staff members weighing in. We took into consideration the clarity of the video and the audio, as well as the creativity. Kenny and Landon both won last year in the same categories as this year, and their videos just keep getting better. Alaina and Ryder provided outstanding first-time submissions. We appreciate the time the students took to make such a fun group of videos!”
Warren Coalition is a nonprofit agency established in 1994 to help fill the gaps in health care and substance abuse awareness to the community. The Coalition began under the guidance of Warren Memorial Hospital as an outreach project, but it has since grown and was incorporated in 2001. The office is currently located in the Warren County Community Center. Their mission is to make Warren County a safe, healthy, and drug free community through many programs and in collaboration with 15+ member agencies.
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