Melissa Mergner, (2006-2007 Essay Contest Second Prize Winner)

Melissa Mergner attends the Communication Arts Program at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. She has written and directed three documentaries, including “Legacy of Peace” about Japan’s A-bomb victims, and “Woody Guthrie: Voice of the Common Man.”

Her films have won awards and have been shown at over 20 film festivals across the U.S. She is currently helping the Farm Labor Organizing Committee with fundraising, by redoing a video she did related to the death of one of the farm workers - Urbano’s Song; as well as working on a campaign with them against the tobacco industry.

As part of her video on the reunification of Korea, she visited a Buddhist Temple. She is also a member of Blair’s swim team. She enjoys drawing, sewing and cooking. She hopes to attend art school when she graduates from high school in 2009.