SILVER SPRING, MD—The votes are in and today a ParkStar is born as the Montgomery County Department of Parks announces the winner of its first-ever ParkStar Search competition: Reuben Jacobson, a student at Winston Churchill High School.
“Congratulations Reuben,” said The Parks Show Host Kelli Holsendolph. “As the votes rolled in, it was fascinating to watch.”
More than 8,000 votes were cast online in the department’s inaugural ParkStar Search competition. Votes came from all across the country, as well as Canada, Europe, Iceland, South America and Africa. The lead in online votes received changed hands at least three times among, Jenay McNeil, Jordan Slattery and Reuben Jacobson over the course of the open online voting period.
“At one point in the closing days of the voting, Jenay and Reuben were even tied for a moment,” added Holsendolph. “The competition was fiercely close, down to the wire!”
Reuben Jacobson, 15-year-old sophomore at Winston Churchill High School, finished with 43.7 percent of the total votes. Jenay McNeil finished in second place with 34.3 percent, Jordan Slattery in third with 14.5 percent, Amir Nasser 4.8 percent and Macy Passawe with 2.6 percent.
“All these kids are ParkStars to us,” said The Parks Show Producer Cathy Grubman. “We were blown away by the talent of all the kids who auditioned—they all have bright futures ahead of them, whether they decide to go into television or not.”
The Department of Parks with County Cable Montgomery (CCM) auditioned a total of 40 area teens, March 29 and April 5, for their chance this summer to work on and host The Parks Show—the Department of Parks’ award-winning 15-minute monthly television program on CCM. After the auditions, The Parks Show editors, producers, crew members with parks officials narrowed down the competition to the top five finalists. Audition footage of the ParkStar finalists was posted online for the open public voting from May 1 – May 15.
“We are really looking forward to working with Reuben this summer,” added Grubman. “We hope his enthusiasm and that of his supporters continues throughout the summer as he gets on-camera as our teen host.”
Reuben will spend about 12 days this summer writing, interviewing and hosting The Parks Show and working with the Department of Parks and CCM in all elements of television production. He can earn up to 100 Student Service Learning (SSL) hours—more than enough to meet the Montgomery County Public Schools graduation requirement—for his work on the show this summer.
“Reuben will also blog about his experiences working with us this summer too on www.ParkStarSearch.com,” added Holsendolph, “so stay tuned for that.”
To see Reuben—the new ParkStar—hosting his first episode of The Parks Show tune into CCM daily on Comcast and RCN Channel 6 and Verizon Channel 30. The show airs three times daily on CCM, or watch streaming online video of The Parks Show from www.MontgomeryParks.org.
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Contact:
Kelli Holsendolph
Media Relations Manager
Montgomery County Department of Parks
301-650-2866