PSA Award Ceremony

The district’s first student-led project in their new Fentanyl-Prevention Program, “Speak Out, Save Lives PSA Contest,” concluded on January 23, 2026, where winners were awarded their scholarships. The event also included the screenings of all participants’ PSAs, guest speakers, and a Q&A.

The winners included members from our own VTV crew, so make sure to congratulate them if possible! The winners are as follows:

• 1st, $1000 = Silent Descent (Daniel Hovakimyan from Saugus High School)

• 2nd, $750 = Not Fine Dining, Apple the Best (Luke Landress, Gavin Helms, Owen St. Clair, Charlotte Brown, Tyler Landress, and Jackson Via from Valencia High School)

• 3rd, $500 = Your Last, X (Paloma Arciniegas from Academy of the Canyons)

• 4th, $300 = Moving Forward, Good Morning Castaic (Myles Fredrickson and Hailey Fredrickson from Castaic Middle School)

• 5th, $200 = One Pill Can Kill, OzMO Studio (Aason Lee from Arroyo Seco)

Through this event, the student committee emphasized that they wanted to give fellow students a chance to voice their opinions and concerns regarding the normalization of teen drug abuse while promoting prevention and community safety–the fundamental message of the student-driven Fentanyl-Prevention Program. This program uses money given by the state to fund entire student-driven events that discuss the issue of rising fentanyl overdoses and encourage awareness. As this is the first event of the program, they hope to inspire others to join this committee. If interested, please contact Mr. Sal Frias at sfrias@hartdistrict.org!