Illinois Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon, along with other representatives, awarded four LZHS students first prize in the ‘No More Dating Abuse Video Contest,’ February 15 in the PAC.

Simon and Vicki Smith, Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence Chief Executive Officer, presented sophomores Kati Stavropoulos, Amanda Buckstaff, Kasia Konsor, and senior Ian Hesch with an iPad 3.

“This video was so inspiring and so moving,” Smith said. “Not only did it show the awful effects of domestic violence but also what could be lost due to violence. The video quality was also fantastic and engaging.”

The purpose of the contest is to spread awareness for domestic violence and how to prevent domestic violence from occurring, Smith said.

“The key to prevention is education at a young age,” Simon said. “We are working on changing our culture, and these four students have started to get the ball rolling on a cultural movement, the movement to live in a safer dating environment.”

The students spent hours on the video to try to convey the perfect message, Konsor said.

“We all saw the flyers around school and knew it was an issue that needed to be addressed,” Konsor said.

LZHS was also awarded with a $1000 prize from T.J. Fox, region president for Verizon Wireless.

“I hope to use the money awarded to the school towards more programs towards preventing domestic violence,” Kim Kolze, principal, said. “We have started with our mental health program, and we want to expand that purpose to help our students as much as we can.”