Reality: Palisades winner of safe driving video challenge

The submissions are in, the videos have been watched, and the panelists of Reality have spoken.

The winner of TMA Bucks’s 2020 Teen Driver Safety Video PSA Challenge is … Palisades High School!

In a time in which both the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement have dominated the national spotlight, TMA Bucks has continued to advocate for teenage driver safety.

Even with schools across the county closed, TMA Bucks continued pushing for teens to step up and practice safe driving techniques on the road.

While the annual seatbelt usage challenge could not be completed before schools were closed, four schools — Pennsbury, William Tennent, Holy Ghost Prep and Palisades — all submitted videos for this year’s video contest.

After the videos were viewed by Reality panelists, the student team from Palisades was selected as the winner of the challenge, and will now receive a $500 cash grant from TMA Bucks in addition to having its PSA air on Comcast.

Palisades’ video was created by David Eschallier, a rising senior at the school.

Eschallier said that he was “surprised and honored to win this award,” adding that he hoped “it helps convey an important message.”

Eschallier received praise from staff at Palisades for the video, with business education teacher Nancy Rugel stating that she was “proud of David and the work he put into producing this video,” especially for how “he (Eschallier) proposed the idea of creating an animation and worked diligently throughout the editing process.”

Rugel added that “David’s outside-the-box thinking helped him create this very effective message about the importance of not texting while driving.”

Eschallier also received praise from Palisades Principal Rich Heffernan, who congratulated him for “delivering an important message to drivers of all ages on the importance of safety and not texting while driving,” while also lauding him for his "creativity and his message.”

TMA Bucks Deputy Director David Walter congratulated all four high schools for participating in this year’s challenge, noting that the schools “should all be extremely proud of what they created and the hard work they put in,” especially when confronted with the ongoing issues of schools closures and the coronavirus pandemic.

Brian Jeter, Comcast’s director of government affairs, also congratulated the participating schools, saying that this year’s submissions were “especially impressive considering the circumstances for teachers and students.”