A group of Georgetown students rapped their way to first place and $1500 in a music video competition sponsored by a children’s book charity.
First Book, a District of Columbia-based nonprofit that gives new books to low-income children, chose the Georgetown chapter for their music video, “Bookalicious.” About six of First Book’s 270 university chapters entered the contest.
According to Georgetown chapter president Fuadi Pitsuwan (SFS ’08), the money will be given to literacy groups and schools in the D.C. area.
“We sometimes work with D.C. Schools to help where there is need for kids to possess and own books,” Georgetown chapter member Jethro Sorra (MSB ’08) said.
“The idea is that they will be more driven to read if they own them.”
First Book announced the results of the contest online Tuesday with the Georgetown group winning $1,000 in the “Best Video” category and another $500 for being the most watched video.
“It was a good way to promote our cause and our goals, and to let the campus know what we are doing for child literacy,” Pitsuwan said.
“Bookalicious,” a parody of Fergie’s “Fergalicious,” features Sorra dressed as the Dr. Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham, walking Jack the Bulldog and dancing around campus.
“There were a lot of books we wanted to use but then we think that Green Eggs and Ham is more universal and that more people know it,” Pitsuwan said.
As of Wednesday evening, “Bookalicious” has been viewed more than 2,700 times since it was posted on October 13, according to YouTube.
“We entered not knowing how much competition there would be,” Sorra said. “Toward the end, we saw it coming. [Our video] was really well done compared to the others we’ve seen.”
