Upwards of 50,000 views in a couple of weeks may not sound like a lot for an Internet video these days, but to Student Body President CJ Fowler and the rest of the Student Council, it is mind blowing.

The popular video made by the Student Council features members of the council reciting messages addressed to ethnic and minority populations who have come under fire recently. The messages reassure them that they are safe and secure at Central.

“The video didn’t just have all of those views on Facebook, it was posted on other social medias, and even THV11 picked it up, which is really cool, and I think it was very successful at spreading our message,” CJ said.

After this most recent election and inauguration, the student council felt a need to reassure students that Central is a safe place.

“We saw many schools around the nation having issues with harassment, and it was clear that minority students around the country, and even here, were fearful. What we wanted to do was create some sort of public statement to assess any fears that students might have,” CJ said.

With the video, the Student Council hoped that students will feel reassured and also that it will encourage other high schools to make statements as well.

The Student Council found inspiration from a poster that addresses racial tensions in Rigsby’s room. Once the script was written, they turned to senior Tessa Bailey, who enjoys making short films and has experience in editing, to film, cut, and edit the video.

“It took two days to record all the pieces, and once I had all the videos, I began to edit them on Splice, an editing app,” Tessa said.

The editing took her about a week, and it was worth it; her efforts and expertise gave the video a professional look and are a significant part of why it became so successful. You can find the video on Youtube and Facebook at LRCH Student Council.

Note: If you are reading this story on school wifi you may be unable to watch the above video due to firewall.