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A Year of Milestones: 2024 Highlights

at the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes

As we approach the end of an extraordinary year, we’re thrilled to share a few standout moments that have shaped 2024 at the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes. This year, we are on track to set a new all-time record for annual visitors at our museum in Fort Scott, Kansas, a testament to the growing impact of our mission. We also celebrated record-breaking entries in both the Discovery Award and ARTEFFECT student competitions, showcasing the remarkable talent and dedication of young changemakers.

Incredibly, our reach now spans all 50 states and 36 countries, as students and educators worldwide engage with the power of Unsung Heroes. Through ongoing professional development and project-based learning strategies, we continue to empower educators and inspire students to create positive change. We also held a number of educational programs throughout the year that enriched our community and surrounding area.

Thank you for being part of a year filled with achievements and the promise of even greater impact in the future!

Giving Tuesday Contributions Ideas

ALL DONATIONS ARE 100% MATCHED

Your contribution helps us:

• Develop powerful and life-changing Unsung Heroes projects with students, educators and parents.
• Engage more than 44,000 schools in critical history and interdisciplinary education that highlights positive role models for young people.
• Provide professional development opportunities and teaching tools for educators across diverse subject areas and grade levels on project-based learning that features Unsung Heroes.
• Reach over 3 million students and educators with inspiring stories that celebrate courage, compassion and conviction.
• Create compelling history exhibits for schools, the community and visitors from around the world at our Center in Fort Scott, Kansas.

Consider a Personalized Brick in Unsung Heroes Park!

For just $100, you can create a unique and enduring tribute to honor a hero in your life. By purchasing a brick, you not only create a lasting memorial but also support the Lowell Milken Center’s mission to share the remarkable stories of Unsung Heroes throughout history.

Your purchase is tax-deductible, as the Lowell Milken Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We’ll promptly email you a printable certificate, making it a hassle-free and meaningful gift option.

Secure your brick today by visiting the Lowell Milken Center at 1 S. Main, Fort Scott, KS, or by submitting this form: https://bit.ly/brick_form. For more information, contact LMC at 620-223-1312.

Support our mission by purchasing a book on Unsung Heroes! Every book shares inspiring stories of courage and change—and helps us continue our work to transform classrooms and communities.

Jericho teachers were recognized by the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes. They are (L-R) Back Row: Brian Dussel, Michelle Vevante, Theresa Cantwell, James Lawlor, Eric Sundberg, and Norm Conard. Front Row: Sarah Espinal, Laura Suchopar, Marci Kivo, Randi Sambursky, Pam Travis, Konstontine Kovoros, and Valerie Conklin.

Photo by Denise Nash.

Madison Choi and Kaitlyn Choi from Jericho High School were the recipients of the 2024 National Discovery Award Outstanding High School Project. LMC’s Executive Director Norm Conard (right) presented the Outstanding High School Project Award to Madison Choi.(Kaitlyn was unable to attend the award presentation.) Also pictured is their teacher, Brian Dussel. Photo by Denise Nash.

Kaitlyn Choi and Madison Choi, students at Jericho High School in New York, were the winners of the $2,500 Outstanding High School Project award, presented to them by LMC Executive Director Norm Conard. Kaitlyn and Madison’s website, Being (Judy) Heumann:  Champion for the Rights of the Disabled, emotionally relates the determination of Unsung Hero Judy Heumann to represent the rights of disabled people in our society. Brian Dussel was their supervising teacher.

The $2,000 Outstanding Middle School Project award was presented by LMC Executive Director Norm Conard in New York to Jericho Middle School student Jay Patel for his documentary, The Color of Blood:  Dr. Charles Drew, An Unsung Hero in Blood Preservation. Charles Drew’s transformation in blood preservation and the establishment of blood banks helped save millions of lives during World War II and continues to save lives today. Teacher Michelle Vevante supervised his project.

Students recognized by the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes are (L-R) Top Tow: Ananya Kavi, Rumaisa Hasan, Rayan Hasan, Isaac Chen, Madison Choi, Jewel Feng, Yifan Gao, Michael Paik, Zihan Wei, Lori Li, and Norm Conard. Front Row: Sophia Zhou, Angel Shah, Jay Patel, Ryan Chan, Tiffany Chiu, and Chuheng Lou. Photo by Denise Nash.

$750 Certificates of Excellence were also awarded to Jericho Middle School students Rayan Hasan and Rumaisa Hasan for their documentary, Jean Heller:  The Unsung Hero Who Paved the Way for American Bioethics (Teachers Laura Suchopar, Marci Kivo, and Michelle Vevante) and to Jericho Middle School student Ananya Kavi for her website, A Heart of Gold:  The Heroic Work of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. (Teacher Pamela Travis)

Other students recognized for their exceptional projects were:  Ryan Chan and Yifan Gao, honoring Unsung Hero Edgar Oscar Heinrich; Isaac Chen, honoring Unsung Hero Jeffery Wig and; Tiffany Chiu, honoring Unsung Hero Bayard Rustin; Lori Li, honoring Unsung Hero Sir Nicholas Winston; Michael Paik and Zihan Wei, honoring UH Wade McClusky; and Angel Shah, honoring Unsung Hero Marie Stewart.

Guiding the Journey: Jericho Teachers Speak on the Value of the Discovery Award

LMC’s Discovery Award provides a unique opportunity for US and International students in grades 4 through 12 to research primary sources and use their talents to develop projects that showcase the power of one person to make positive change in the world.

Submissions for the next competition season are due July 1, 2025. Project work may begin immediately.

September 18, 2024

Vol. 8

Announcing the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes

2024 National Discovery Award Winners!

Dr. Toni Guglielmo of the Lowell Milken Family Foundation (pictured on the right) presented the 2024 National Discovery Award Grand Prize to Harmony Yan-Li from Irvine High School (CA) on behalf of the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes.

For its 2024 National Discovery Award competition, the Lowell Milken Center in Fort Scott has awarded over $25,000 in cash prizes to elementary, middle and high school students. This annual competition is designed to inspire students to develop primary and secondary research projects that share the powerful historical impact of unsung heroes whose stories are little-known.

California’s Irvine High School student Harmony Yan-Li was surprised with the news that she is the $6,000 Grand Prize winner of the Lowell Milken Center’s annual National Discovery Award competition. Dr. Toni Guglielmo of the Lowell Milken Family Foundation presented the award to Harmony in front of a group of classmates, family, school officials, and her supervising teacher, Jennifer Harrington. Together, they celebrated and viewed Harmony’s inspiring Unsung Hero documentary, Turning from Tragedy: The Unsung Story of Frances Kelsey and the Thalidomide Scandal.

LMC Executive Director Norm Conard shared his thoughts, “Harmony Yan-Li’s project will be proudly shared in our Hall of Unsung Heroes. Her powerful documentary about pharmacologist and physician Frances Kelsey masterfully relates the courage of Dr. Kelsey in taking a bold stand against the use of Thalidomide in the United States, averting a further crisis for women and their unborn children.”

A memorable moment from our Zoom meeting as Rehan Mathew Koshy learns he is the 2024 National Discovery Award First Place winner.

The $3,000 First Place prize was awarded to high school student Rehan Mathew Koshy from Walter Payton College Prep in Illinois. His documentary, Ensign Jane Kendeigh:  Angel to the Rescue, shares the story of Unsung Hero Jane Kendeigh, the first female US Navy flight nurse to land in Iwo Jima during WWII. Rehan’s supervising teacher was Allison Gillick.

Kaitlyn Choi and Madison Choi, students at Jericho High School in New York, were the winners of the $2,500 Outstanding High School Project award, presented to them by LMC Executive Director Norm Conard. Kaitlyn and Madison’s website, Being (Judy) Heumann:  Champion for the Rights of the Disabled, emotionally relates the determination of Unsung Hero Judy Heumann to represent the rights of disabled people in our society. Brian Dussel was their supervising teacher.

The $2,000 Outstanding Middle School Project award was presented by LMC Executive Director Norm Conard in New York to Jericho Middle School student Jay Patel for his documentary, The Color of Blood:  Dr. Charles Drew, An Unsung Hero in Blood Preservation. Charles Drew’s transformation in blood preservation and the establishment of blood banks helped save millions of lives during World War II and continues to save lives today. Teacher Michelle Vevante supervised his project.

More photos from the Jericho H.S. and M.S. presentations will be featured in a future newsletter!

LMC Program Director Megan Felt awarded the Founder’s Award to students Anna McLaughlin and Danika Szopinski from Seaman High School in Topeka, KS. Their documentary, Bela Hazan:  The Courier Who Redefined Resistance and Changed History, shares the important but unknown story of a young Jewish victim of the Holocaust. As a courier and member of the Jewish Resistance, Hazan smuggled information, money, and other goods to ghettos during the Holocaust. Susan Sittenauer was their supervising teacher for the project.

The Outstanding International Project was awarded to high school students in Cherkasy, Ukraine. Their website, Oleksandra Shulezhko:  The story of a woman who saved more than a hundred children during World War II, is a powerful testament to the efforts of the Ukrainian teacher who courageously sheltered and saved dozens of Jewish children during the Holocaust. Feature coming soon!

The $1,500 Outstanding Elementary School Project award was presented to Christian Learning Center students Charlee Wells and Hadley Wells by LMC Program Director Megan Felt in Fort Scott, KS. Their documentary, Etching Voices:  An Unsung Hero in the Recording and Music Industry, shares the story of Unsung Hero Emile Berliner, whose invention of the gramophone greatly impacted the accessibility and affordability of recorded music for people throughout the world. The supervising teacher was Rachel Wells.

LMC Program Director Megan Felt is pictured with students Danika Szopinski and Anna McLaughlin, creators of the 2024 National Discovery Award Founder’s Award-winning project on Unsung Hero Bela Hazan, alongside their teacher, Susan Sittenauer, a 2014 LMC Fellow.

Hadley Wells and Charlee Wells, students from Christian Learning Center in Fort Scott, Kansas, proudly display the check they were awarded for winning the Outstanding Elementary School Project.

In addition to these outstanding 2024 Discovery Award entries, other students and teachers were honored for their excellent work. The following seven projects received  Certificate of Excellence awards:

• Student Aprameyan Ramanujan, Spring Hill Elementary in VA, (Teacher Shvetha Ramanujan) Warrior on Wheels – Judith Heumann, the Mother of the Disability Rights Movement
• Student Jackson Mehmen, Nashua-Plains Middle School in IA, (Teacher Suzy Turner) Dr. Norman Borlaug:  Scientist and Humanitarian

• Students Rayan and Rumaisa Hasan, Jericho Middle School in NY), (Teachers Laura Suchopar, Marci Kivo and Michelle Vevante) Jean Heller:  The Unsung Hero Who Paved the Way for American Bioethics

• Student Ananya Kavi, Jericho Middle School in NY, (Teacher Pamela Travis)

  A Heart of Gold:  The Heroic Work of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams

• Student Charlie Stones, Washburn Rural High School in KS, (Teachers Lindsey Dowell and Alice Bertels) March 19, 1966 (Unsung Hero Don Haskins)
• Student Claira Morgan, Loup County High School in NE, (Teacher Megan Helberg) Percy Hobart:  The Mind That Helped Win World War II
• Students Makenna Hatten and Andrew Ritter, Moriarty High School in NM, (Teacher Amy Page) Remembering Angkar:  How Dith Pran Risked Death to Record the Cambodian Genocide

Additionally, the following were also recognized:

• National Outstanding Discovery Award Teacher:  Chris Dier, Benjamin Franklin High School, New Orleans, LA
• Outstanding Teacher Awards:  Megan Helberg, Loup County Public Schools, (NE); Tami Lunsford, Newark Charter School, (NJ); Miranda Spina and Jayda Pugliese, St. Mary Interparochial School (PA)
• Outstanding School Award: Jericho High School and Middle School (NY)

  Jericho Teachers: Michelle Vevante, Theresa Cantwell, James Lawlor, Laura Suchopar, Pamela Travis, Marci Kivo, Brian Dussel, Sarah Espinal, Konstantine Kovoros, Randi Sambursky, and Dr. Eric Sandberg

Chris Dier from Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans, LA, and a 2023 LMC Fellow, was named the National Discovery Award Outstanding Teacher. Chris was recognized for his exceptional contributions to the Discovery Award competition and for student engagement.

LMC Executive Director Norm Conard pictured with students from Jericho High School and Middle School, recipients of the 2024 National Discovery Award Outstanding School Award. Their dedication and teamwork as a district earned them this prestigious recognition.

LMC’s Discovery Award provides a unique opportunity for US and International students in grades 4 through 12 to research primary sources and use their talents to develop projects that showcase the power of one person to make positive change in the world. “Real heroes tower and guide,” said LMC Founder Lowell Milken. “But their stories need to be discovered and heard. When we do, we have the opportunity to motivate new generations to aspire to values that are essential during the challenging times we face individually, as a nation, and as a world community.”

Submissions for the next competition season are due July 1, 2025. Project work may begin immediately.

Established in 2007, the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes (LMC) discovers, develops, and communicates the stories of unsung heroes who have profoundly and positively impacted history, yet are largely unrecognized by contemporary generations. The LMC has reached over 3,300,000 students and 44,000 schools in all 50 states and countries worldwide. Learn more about LMC and the Discovery Award.