A former Iowa PBS Mentorship Program participant has received an award from the Upper Midwest Emmy ® Foundation for her work in student video production.

Abrianna Hilson won an Upper Midwest Emmy ® Foundation Award for a video project she made as part of her Iowa PBS Mentorship. She won the Crystal Pillar, which recognizes outstanding achievement in student production, for her video “My PBS Mentorship” in the High School — Nonfiction category.

Hilson is a student at North High School in Des Moines and also takes classes at Des Moines Public Schools’ Central Campus. She was involved in the 2022 Iowa PBS Mentorship Program. Students learn about all aspects of video production and at the end of the program are challenged with creating their own content, which is what earned Hilson the award.

“Thank you for allowing me to be part of the program,” said Hilson. “Without Iowa PBS, I would have never been able to gain the knowledge and skills from their employees to make this video happen.”

Iowa PBS will be offering the Mentorship Program again in summer 2023. This year’s program begins with orientation on June 8, 2023 and runs through August 2, 2023. Interested individuals can find more information at iowapbs.org/mentorship. Applications must be submitted by May 4, 2023.