Millville High student wins gold at New Jersey Teen Arts Festival

Nicholas D'Augostine turned a class project in Millville High School’s Video I program into gold at the New Jersey State Teen Arts Festival, drawing attention to a local video pathway that begins in the classroom and can carry Cumberland County students all the way to state-level judging.

Teen Arts NJ listed D'Augostine among its 2026 gold showcase honorees in filmmaking after the New Jersey State Teen Arts Festival ran June 1-3. The festival is open to students in grades 6-12, and its adjudication process is built around professional artist-critiques that students receive after advancing from county-level competition. Teen Arts NJ also says scholarships are available at the state level for students who excel.

Shoebox was created under Mr. DiFrancia in Video I, a sign that Millville’s arts offerings reach beyond performance and into film production. The short follows a student through an ordinary school day that turns uncomfortable as whispers, stares and judgment close in. Its credits list Nick D'Augostine as writer, director and editor, with Mr. DiFrancia also appearing in the cast.

The recognition also reflects how Millville sits inside a broader county arts funnel. The Cumberland and Cape May Counties Teen Arts Festival is traditionally held in Millville’s Glasstown Arts District and has been hosted around High Street and downtown venues, including the Levoy Theatre, Rowan College South Jersey and the Millville Public Library. In 2022, the festival drew nearly 700 teens after a two-year COVID hiatus, showing the scale of participation that can feed the state event.

That structure matters for Cumberland County because it gives students a place to test film and digital-media work before professional adjudicators and then move upward if their work stands out. Millville Public Schools noted that students advanced to the state festival, while Teen Arts NJ thanked participating schools and educators for their role in the program. For Millville, D'Augostine’s gold honor makes the local pipeline visible: a classroom assignment, a county arts showcase in downtown Millville and, for the strongest work, statewide recognition.