LEWISTON – Work on an anti-drunken-driving movie has earned a Lewiston High School senior statewide recognition.

Ashley Morgan is listed among WCSH-6’s Teens Who Care award winners for 2008 for her work with the Lewiston Youth Advisory Council and for her help writing and directing the council’s video “Smashed.”

It’s a big honor for someone who prefers to stay behind the camera, according to her mother, Lee Morgan.

“She’s very excited and very honored and completely surprised,” Lee Morgan said.

The film was the culmination of the youth council’s “U Booze U Looze” campaign, aimed at curbing teen drinking and driving.

The movie will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at the Lewiston Public Library. Morgan is expected to sit in on a question-and-answer session about the production with other youth council and cast members.

The film tells the story of a high school student killed in a drunken-driving accident. It uses a counseling session to refer to the crash and the events that led up to it – kids getting ready for the prom, buying alcohol and goofing off during lectures on drinking and driving.

It culminates in the traffic accident, filmed in August on Foss Road. The cast includes local actors and members of the youth council.

Morgan wrote the script and directed the filming last August, with the help and guidance of director Seth Roberts of Maddog Entertainment. The film as been approved for use in Maine’s driver education curriculum.

The Teens Who Care program is administered and judged by WCSH 6 and WLBZ 2. Judges selected Morgan and five other Maine teens from a list of 60 nominations this year.

Other 2008 honorees are Amber Casterlin of Brunswick, Lacie Craven of Machiasport, Rebecca Fick of Garland, Katie Moskowitz of Saco and Caleb Nickerson of Lincoln. They’ll be honored at an April 7 ceremony at the Portland Museum of Art hosted by WCSH 6 newscasters Lee Nelson and Sharon Rose.

Each of the six teens will be honored with a short documentary-style profile that will debut at the awards ceremony and be broadcast during a special in May. The stations will also air 30-second salutes throughout May and June.

Each teen will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship by Maine Education Services, a student loan program.

Detailed information about the teens and their volunteer efforts is available at WCSH6.com.