2026 High School Winners

Zening Zhao is an 11th grader at Saddle River Day School in Saddle River, New Jersey. He learned about the video contest in his videography class last year. This year, he decided to participate because he saw that energy was one of the topics, and it connected directly to something he cares deeply about: public transportation. He was surprised to learn how directly population growth affects energy demand, which gave him a much deeper appreciation for why sustainable solutions like public transit are so important. “Growing up in the New York City area, I’ve always loved public transportation. As I got older, I started realizing that public transportation isn’t just about convenience. It also saves energy, and I want more people to understand that connection, and hopefully encourage them to choose public transit more often,” he shared.

Zening has made videos for fun before, but this is the first time he has created one for a competition. One of the biggest challenges was getting the perfect shot at the right time of day for his video opening and transitioning smoothly from the live shots to the animation. He really enjoyed animating his video and felt proud seeing his ideas come to life. He used CapCut to edit his video, which had so many features that didn’t require a subscription. His advice to future contest participants is to make time to plan out your video well, but also have fun. He also shared, “Don’t be discouraged if you don’t win–just by submitting, you are already a great video creator,” emphasizing the importance of enjoying the process.

Zening wants to continue to advocate for improvements that make transit safer, more comfortable, and more accessible, so that choosing public transit over a private car becomes an easier decision for everyone. He entered the New York Times Open Letter Contest earlier this year, promoting the installation of platform screen doors in the NYC subway to improve passenger safety. Zening is very involved in STEM programs and is the leader of the puzzle club at his school, and has competed and placed in many math competitions, including the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) and the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME). He also enjoys playing mahjong and ice hockey. After high school, Zening hopes to study civil engineering to further explore urban systems, smart cities, and transportation. He shared that “As the global population continues to grow, I want to work on making our cities more livable, designing transit systems and urban infrastructure that can actually keep up with the people who need them.”