Press Releases

Committee for Children Earns Prestigious Film Award

SEATTLE—This week, CINE announced the winners of the highly regarded Golden Eagle Award, which included three music videos from the newly released Second Step program by Seattle nonprofit Committee for Children.

The music videos, titled “Walk, Walk, Walk,” “Calm Down,” and “Step Up,” are designed to help fourth- and fifth-graders remember social-emotional skills such as empathy, emotion management, and problem solving. They are an integral part of Second Step: Skills for Social and Academic Success, the latest edition of the research-based, 22-year-old Second Step program, which is used in 25,000 schools in 26 countries.

“My colleagues and I are thrilled to receive the Golden Eagle Award,” says Mia Doces, Committee for Children’s senior programs and media specialist. “Educators have been telling us that these new music videos are really helping their students retain critical social-emotional skills. The fact that their merits are also lauded by the film industry is icing on the cake.”

These aren’t the first Committee for Children videos to gain kudos. “Schools gave us rave reviews on our Second Step middle school program, which was our most media-rich curriculum to date,” says Preben Borch, senior video producer at Committee for Children, “So we felt that a combination of video, animation, and music would be a great teaching tool for younger kids as well.” Executive Director Joan Duffell adds, “CINE honored our work with Golden Eagles in 1986, 1990, 1991, and 1996, and we never tire of being counted among such a passionate and skilled group of filmmakers.”

The Golden Eagle Awards cover eight production areas and 32 categories; the “Second Step Music Video Series” was one of two selected for the Professional Non-Fiction Division’s Children’s Education and Entertainment category. Committee for Children shares the honor with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that produces the acclaimed children’s television series Sesame Street.