Our Lady of Lourdes student’s winning submission may inspire future episode
Clare Flanagan has had a natural talent for creative writing from a young age. The fourth grader at Our Lady of Lourdes School in University City has penned newsletters for her school’s eco-friendly club and even crafted scripts to act out with her friends at recess.
Others have taken notice. Studio 3:16, a Catholic media company that produces educational programming for children, recently named Clare a winner of its national scriptwriting contest.
Clare was chosen in the individual student category for second through fourth graders. The contest also included a class-written script category for second through fourth graders, as well as individual and class categories for fifth through eighth graders. Clare and her classmates learned during a May 1 livestream on YouTube that she was among the winning entries. The winning scripts may inspire a future episode.
When she realized her name had been announced, Clare’s reaction went from surprised to shocked and then excited. “It took me a little bit to realize what happened,” she said. “I was mostly just surprised, and then I was just shocked.”
Clare wrote a script based on Matthew 6:1-6, a passage from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, where He warns against practicing acts of faith, including fasting and praying, purely for public recognition. In the passage, He teaches that acts of faith should be humble and private, done for God rather than for the approval of others.
Her story centered on Studio 3:16’s main character and co-founder Shevin McCullough, who is portrayed in videos as a recording artist who writes original music to help children understand weekly Sunday Gospel readings. In Clare’s script, Shevin and several other characters enter an art contest. When the winner asks to remain anonymous, Shevin comes to understand the Scripture’s lesson firsthand.
Clare said she wanted the script to capture the passage’s deeper message that God knows our intentions, and that’s what matters most. Jesus “wanted people to realize and understand that you shouldn’t just pray for people to see you,” Clare said. “You should pray because you want to pray. God inspired this Gospel for everyone.”
Fourth grade teacher Katrina Sommer described Clare as having an innate ability to understand Scripture and explain it to her peers in a way that they can understand, too — just like Studio 3:16’s content.
“It took a lot of courage and she did it,” Sommer said. “We talk a lot about how you miss every shot you don’t take, and so this was an opportunity to just try. One of the things I’ve really been trying to hit hard with the kids is you absolutely can do it. God is calling you to do these things, and He will give you all the resources you need — just trust and do it.”
Based in Tampa, Florida, Studio 3:16 launched in 2020 and released its first episodes in 2021. Six new episodes were completed in April and will be released this fall in time for the 2026-27 school year. More than 400 schools throughout the United States subscribe to its content. Studio 3:16 said it is working on distribution to homes in the future.
Director of operations Billy Jo Galeazzi said their work is “great entertainment that ultimately leads kids to Christ. We want to help kids develop a relationship with Christ through Scripture and see that it’s not a history book, but His word speaking to you and I today. We want to help them form a relationship through Scripture to get to know Jesus in a real way.”
