An all-school assembly was held Friday morning at Jefferson Elementary School when a prize patrol from Smoky Hills Public Television arrived. First-grader Amelia Baskervillek was honored for winning first prize in her age group in the 2019 SHPTV PBS Kids Writers Contest.

Each year the public television station based in Bunker Hill puts on a contest where it asks children from kindergarten through third grade to create their own stories and illustrations, said Tricia Flax, who delivered the award. This year the station received over 200 stories.

Friday was Amelia’s seventh birthday, so she received a birthday balloon along with her trophy and prize pack. She read her story, “How the Skunk Got Her Smell,” to her classmates. Then everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to her. 

“We again received fantastic stories from children around the state,” Flax said. “The children continue to amaze us on how creative they can be when you just give them a paper, pencil, and let their imaginations go to work. We are thrilled that this program continues to grow. We thank the parents and teachers who encouraged their kids to submit stories!”

Each story was judged twice with three places awarded in each grade level. The children whose stories placed receive a prize pack and trophy.

Smoky Hills Public Television serves 71 counties in central and western Kansas. The other winners have not yet been announced. During the assembly, Jefferson Elementary students said two are their favorite PBS shows are “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” and “Wild Kratts.”