I, Too, Am America: Untold Stories Student Narratives Contest
National Parks of Kansas 2009

The National Park Service, KTWU, and the Kansas State Department of Education, co-sponsors of the I, Too, Am America student narrative contest, are proud to announce that five students were selected with winning stories. The contest coordinators were overwhelmed with the positive response to the contest and received over 300 entries representing seventh- and eighth- grade students from 20 schools all across the state of Kansas. A committee of twelve representatives from the five Kansas National Park Service units, KTWU, and the Kansas State Department of Education spent two days in May reviewing and narrowing the field of entries down to the final five winning narratives. 

The I, Too, Am America contest was designed to provide middle school students an opportunity to research and retell untold stories of the diverse peoples of Kansas.  Entries were submitted in several formats ranging from essays and short stories to drawings and PowerPoint presentations. The students were provided five themes interpreted by the Kansas National Park units that they could connect with their own family, community, and cultural histories. These themes include: “Living between two worlds,” “Building communities,” “Overcoming hardship,” “Migration stories,” and “Seeking fairness and justice.”  Many student entries told some compelling stories representing each of the five themes making the judging process a difficult one. After hours of deliberation, the final narratives selected came from the following students:

Joe Cheng- 8^th grader at Roosevelt Middle School in Coffeyville, Kansas

Anne DeArmond- 7^th grader at Westridge Middle School in Overland Park, Kansas

Ryan Kelly- 8^th grader at Seaman Middle School in Topeka, Kansas

Becky Loepky- 8^th grader at Satanta Junior High School in Satanta, Kansas

David Spivak- 7^th grader at Mission Valley Middle School in Prairie Village, Kansas.

Congratulations to the winners and all the students who submitted projects for judging. Everyone did a superb job in finding and sharing their “untold stories.”

Stay tuned for what happens next with the contest winners!