TOPEKA –Each year Kansas students are invited to enter photographs that celebrate Kansas and be eligible for special prizes. This year’s theme is Your Favorite Place in Kansas. First place winners in each grade from first to 12th will receive iPads; second place awards in each grade are Kindles.
Last year, first grader Lily Steadman of Derby photographed a school competition to highlight the runners on the Kansas prairies. She received first place in her category in the Happy Birthday, Kansas! Student Photo Contest and won an iPad for her work, among the 24 student award recipients. Lily’s was one of 400 contest entries.
The student photographs contribute to the pictorial history of Kansas, like L. W. Halbe, an early 20th century teenage photographer from Dorrance in Russell County. Halbe’s photos offer a valuable window into life in his community. These photos will be preserved by the Kansas Historical Society.
The contest deadline, for first through 12th grade students, is 5 p.m. Wednesday, December 15, 2021. Winners will be announced as part of the state’s 161st birthday commemoration at the Kansas State Capitol on Friday, January 28, 2022. Find more information and a complete list of contest rules at happybirthdayks.org.
The contest is sponsored by the Kansas legislative spouses in conjunction with the Kansas Historical Society.
Find photographs from last year’s Happy Birthday, Kansas! Student Photo Contest:
https://www.kshs.org/p/student-photo-contest-2020/20482
Find photographs from the Halbe collection online in Kansas Memory: