NNPS Telecom students receive international Viddy Award for cooking competition show
Published June 2, 2026
A team of Newport News Public Schools Telecom students was honored with a Viddy Award for an episode of their "High School Cookoff!" show that features a cooking competition between culinary students at Denbigh, Menchville and Warwick high schools.
The Viddy Awards is an international competition honoring video excellence. The NNPS team earned a Gold Award in the Broadcast/Cable/Subscription TV Programs - Student category of the awards, which are selected by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, for the first episode of the four-part series.
The video includes an interview with Denbigh culinary teacher Loritta Scott, Denbigh students cooking their best meal within a 30-minute time limit and judges rating the finished product.
Menchville High School twelfth grader Ariel Savage created and produced the show, with her classmates in the TV-1 class serving as crew. Savage and Telecom Instructor Carl Daniels, Jr., co-directed the show and Telecom Supervisor Ray Price served as Production Manager.
Savage also served as the show's host and editor. Warwick eleventh grader Aiden Montes-Rodriguez and Menchville tenth grader John Benoit were camera operators for the show, and Menchville twelfth grader Ryan Ross and Denbigh eleventh grader Mason Neenan Spencer served as competition judges.
