TOPEKA — Winners of the Happy Birthday, Kansas! Student Photo Contest received prizes last Friday at the celebration of Kansas Day at the Kansas State Capitol. Governor Sam Brownback congratulated students as Marearl Denning, representing the legislative spouses, presented an iPad to first-place winners and a Kindle to second-place winners. The contest, now in its fourth year, is presented in conjunction with the Kansas Historical Society.
The statewide contest invited students in first through 12th grade to photograph the state, with prizes awarded to first- and second-place winners in each grade. Photographs from the 24 winners will be on display in the Capitol visitor center through Saturday, Feb. 3, and online at kshs.org/18622.
The winners in the 2017 photo contest: First grade: Jake Sibley, “Our Beautiful Capitol at Night,” first place, Topeka; Adynn R. Milburn, “Getting Ready for Morton County Fair,” second place, Elkhart; Second grade: Fair McMannis, “Elevator at Sunset,” first place, Canton; Grayson Maxwell, “Cannon at Fort Larned,” second place, Larned; Third grade: Michaela Ferguson, “Dazzling Trees,” first place, Mount Hope; Samuel Rogers, “Still Standing,” second place, Auburn; Fourth grade: Emmie Grimm, “Stood the Test of Time,” first place, Morrill; Kaitlyn Popejoy, “Miners memorial,” second place, Pittsburg; Fifth grade: Josephine B. Denney, “Leavenworth Veterans Day Parade,” first place, Lansing; Katy Prieb, “Fence and One-Room Schoolhouse, second place, Canton; Sixth grade: Trudy Hein, “Harvest Time,” first place, Hillsboro; Regan Hedstrom, “A Day on the Farm,” second place, Cheney; Seventh grade: Jal Maru, “Reclaiming the Past, Framing the Future,” first place, Topeka; Dylan Adkins, “The Old Shawnee Mission Supply Wagon,” second place, Overland Park; Eighth grade: Mikayla Skidmore, “Osborne Courthouse,” first place, Smith Center; Braelynn Cunningham, “Friday Night Lights,” second place, Ashland; Freshmen: Aiden Moore, “Foggy Main Street,” first place, Canton; Isaac Richardson, “Railroad Vision,” second place, Topeka; Sophomores: Sophie Osborn, “Abandoned,” first place, Chanute; Celey Johnson, “Refinery at Sunset,” second place, McPherson; Juniors: Jillian Ross-Mason, “Sunset Courthouse,” first place, Canton; Terra Saunders, “Lily,” second place, Galva; Seniors: Ashton Faith Imel, “Amber Waves of Grain,” first place, Bucklin; Emma Marvin, “Kansas Sunset,” second place, Wichita.