Zombies can teach us all something about work safety. That's the guiding principle of Tupper ELL students' recent film, which got an hounorable mention in this year's WorkSafeBC Student Safety Video Contest.

While the students and their teacher Stephen Coderre originally toyed with parodying the popular film the Hunger Games with a 'Safety Games' they settled on zombies as their artistic trope in a cute film aimed at raising awareness around the statement "don't let your first day be your last."

"The fact that we won this now really makes me proud of the students and the fact they are willing to put themselves out there in an enthusiastic way," says Coderre. "I am really proud of it and really impressed. It was effort of about 30 different students who put it all together. It is a real booster for the school community. It just shows how dedicated Tupper is to safety." 

The video can be viewed by clicking here or below:

 

The experience of producing the PSA was an excellent one for the Tupper ELL students. Grade 10 Hana Woldeyes directed the movie. She says she and her friends worked on the video for over two and a half days.

Pav Vadivel was one of the staring actors who got to test his stuntman abilities by falling off a ladder (safely but realistically).   

Meanwhile, actress and Grade 12 student Usrah Salem says the PSA was the first time she's ever acted. Despite the challenge of acting in a film in her second language, she felt very happy with the end product.

"It was my first time acting. I never thought I was actually be kinda good at it," says Salem. "When I first started acting I thought let's get the job done. It was really fun to do. I think I got it."

Tupper Vice Principal Jim Rutley agrees that the acting was good. In fact, he says it was so good that when his small child watched the film, she got scared.

"The students did a pretty good zombie growl," said Rutley.

Coderre says a number of students need to be recognized for their hard work on the film including Woldeyes, Joseph Aristorenas, DJ Camara, Kirby Estayan, Janny Tran, John Tate, Jeremy Garcia, Mathivathana Satkunanananthan, Giet Ralan, Lina Ro'Mah, Ricardo Sanchez, Henrick Vargas, Juliette Gagel, Kelly Quinn, Clarice Hope Melodias and Noah Denommee-Robert.