CHAPTER 9
VIDEO GONE VIRAL

Thankfully, Avani got all the help she could ask for.

The first thing Avani decided was that the video needed more voices. So, Dad drove her, Krish, and Maddy around the neighborhood. They looked for kids skating in driveways. They filmed and interviewed them.

Then, as Avani rested and iced her ankle, she worked on putting it all together. She now had more than twenty interviews. She edited the clips. She added music. After a week, she had a pretty great five-minute video.

But I think it can be better, she thought.

Avani showed the video to Krish and Maddy. She asked for suggestions.

“How about moving the fourth clip before the third clip, so it flows more smoothly?” suggested Krish.

“Maybe we can try a different song?” added Maddy. “Something with more energy?”

Avani took all the feedback. She reworked the video. It took a long time and a lot of effort.

Even still, Avani finished the video three days before the city council meeting. She was so proud of how it had turned out.

“I am going to post our video online,” Avani announced to Maddy and Krish after school on Monday. “Maybe it’ll get shared and help get more support for the park. Let’s just hope the video will be enough to convince the council!”

Maddy nodded. “Fingers crossed,” she said as Avani hit upload.

Within the hour after Avani uploaded it, the video had been shared 24 times and had gotten 57 likes.

By the time Avani was getting ready for bed, the video had 83 shares and 701 likes.

“Look!” she said to Krish. “Our video is going viral!”

The next morning, Dad got a call.

“Uh-huh,” he said. “Yes… yes. Let me check. I’ll call you back.”

“Who was that?” asked Krish.

“That was local news station KBED,” said Dad. “A reporter saw your video and wants to share it during the evening news tomorrow. What do you think?”

“Yes!” said Avani. “That’s awesome!”

“And the council meeting is the day after,” added Krish. “So the timing will be perfect!”

On Thursday night, Avani crutched into the city council chamber full of hope. Last time she had checked, their video was at 102 shares and 1,634 likes. And now, the council chamber was packed with people. People who had come to support the skate park!

Dad started out by sharing his screen to show KBED’s website. The news article with their skate video had more than one hundred comments. The comments were all of people saying how much they wanted the park to go through.

Then Avani, Krish, and Maddy played the video for the council.

But it turned out that they didn’t really need to play it. All of the council members had already seen it!

In the city council chamber, Avani is on crutches and stands next to Krish and Maddy, in front of screen playing their video. All three kids smile. Rita sits nearby clapping and the large audience claps too.

“That was quite convincing,” said Rita.

“Well done,” said Angela.

“My kid said I have to vote yes for this project,” said Ned. “Or else I have to sleep outside!”

The city council voted. It was unanimous. The Oakdale Skate Park was going to happen!

Avani, Krish, and Maddy cheered. So did the crowd of supporters.

“We did it!” shouted Avani, smiling ear to ear.