International Student Exchange would like to congratulate Jan “Jesse” Pitela, a student from Czech Republic who recently took home first prize in Frederick’s Supermarket of Cars High School Commercial Contest. With the help of his academic advisor, Ray Clements, Jesse designed a commercial entitled “Fuel Efficiency,” which highlights the fuel economy features of several new automobiles created by Chevrolet.

Each winner took home a new iPad for himself, and shared the reward of a car which was donated to Annville-Cleona High in Pennsylvania. Jesse was also granted the opportunity to work with professional designers and visual arts studios to bring his vision to life. As an experienced visual artist, Jesse was happy to get back into working with the video medium, and is quoted in the local Lebanon Daily News saying “I thought [the contest] was a nice opportunity to make something again. I really liked the experience. It was kind of like working for a client, even though it was a competition.”

Ray Clements was happy to help Jesse along the way and afterwards to share his admiration for a young man with such talent and ambition. To date Jesse has dozens of videos on YouTube and a following of almost 2 million viewers. Some of his stunning works include several slow motion action scenes and fan fiction clips of films such as The Matrix, and Inception.

A truly talented young artist, Jesse has honored his school, his country, and International Student Exchange with his recent victory. Take some time to view his multitude of videos at YouTube/jessepitela.

The goal of the YES program is to engage participating youth, their teachers and classmates, and community leaders in an exchange effort that will promote increased understanding and tolerance between cultures. The YES program encourages the exchange of ideas, values, and experiences among young people by exposing these young scholars to leadership belief systems, civil society principles, and community service involvement.

This initiative was a result of Congressional discussions following the events of September 11, 2001, to build bridges of understanding between the United States and countries with significant Muslim populations. From 2003 to the present a total of 3,480 students have participated in the YES program. During the 2009-2010 academic year, over 800 students will participate in the program.

From this video, anyone can learn about hosting and how great it is! The rewards are infinite and last a lifetime!