At the assembly, BGE representatives praised the students for their perseverance, creativity and their use of their talents in acting, music and choreography to create their rendition of the original BGE Wires Down commercial, helping the students stand out among the other videos submitted.

"We are thrilled to present the students and teachers at Sarah M. Roach Elementary School with a trophy and the grand prize of $10,000 in funding, as an award for their originality and creativity in recreating BGE’s original Wires Down television commercial," said Stephen J. Woerner, president and chief operating officer for BGE. "At BGE, the safety of our customers, our employees and importantly, their families, is our top priority and we congratulate the students and teachers who worked together on this project for their engaging performance and teamwork. The original ‘Wires Down’ commercial was an important part of BGE’s initiative to educate customers on the dangers associated with downed power lines, especially children who may be unaware of the safety hazards, and we are excited to see these students embracing and understanding the importance of electric safety."

Sarah M. Roach Elementary School was chosen as the grand prize winning school, competing against 25 videos from 23 elementary schools across central Maryland. During the two week voting period, more than 77,000 votes were cast to determine the winning videos.

The school plans to use the $10,000 school enrichment award to purchase new laptop computers to start a technology club. To view the grand prize winning video from Sarah M. Roach Elementary School, visit bgevideochallenge.com.

"Thank you, BGE, for this wonderful prize for a video that not only raises awareness about an important issue, but highlights the creative and talented staff and students at Sarah M. Roach Elementary School," said Dr. Gregory E. Thornton, Ed.D., Baltimore City Public Schools. "Our students and staff worked hard on this, and we couldn’t be more proud. We are also proud of our continuing partnership with BGE."

In total, BGE will present $30,000 to 11 winning schools as part of the third annual BGE Wires Down Video Challenge. To date, BGE has presented nearly $81,000 in to 27 elementary schools across central Maryland as part of the BGE Wires Down Video Challenge since 2012. To view the contest website, complete listing of winning schools and submitted video entries, go to bgevideochallenge.com.

This fall, BGE launched the third annual BGE Wires Down Video Challenge to all elementary schools in its central Maryland service area for a chance to win up to $10,000 toward a school enrichment project. More than 77,000 votes were cast for the 26 videos that were submitted during an online voting phase in December. Elementary schools were encouraged to create their own adaption of BGE’s popular "Wires Down" electric safety commercial for the chance to win between $1,000 and $10,000 to fund a school enrichment project. Originally produced in 2000, the Emmy Award-winning commercial with its "do not, do not, do not touch" refrain aims to help raise awareness of electricity hazards, especially among young children. For more information on the Wires Down Video Challenge and electrical safety, visit bge.com.

Sarah M. Roach Elementary, Stars in Education, has a robust academic program for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students. With the data from STEP assessments, we make informed decisions as we provide our students with appropriate interventions and resources in literacy. We also challenge our students mathematically with our Math Works program. Because classroom management is essential to academic success, we have become a PBIS school which encourages positive student behaviors through incentives and interventions.

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