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| A Beacon of Hope
Unsung Hero: Abdol Hossein Sardari Grand Prize Artist: Celine Fong, Grade 11, Rye Country Day School, Rye, NY Teacher: Dan Park |
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| A Beacon of Hope
Unsung Hero: Abdol Hossein Sardari Grand Prize Artist: Celine Fong, Grade 11, Rye Country Day School, Rye, NY Teacher: Dan Park |
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National History Day State Champions from Fort Scott Set to Present at the Empress Events Center Southeast Kansas will send two projects to the National History Day Championship in College Park, Maryland June 11–15.
Four groups from the Bourbon County community attended the State National History Day Championships in Topeka in April.
The two groups from Fort Scott who are State Champions competing at Nationals in June will present their projects at 7:00 PM on June 1st at the Empress Events Center. This presentation will allow the students to practice sharing their projects and raise funds for their trip to College Park, MD. This event is open to the
public.
The following students are the State Champions and will be sharing their projects on June 1st:
Kenlee Eden, Blair Felt, and Kodie Wells from Fort Scott Christian Learning Center will participate in the Junior Group Documentary category, coached by Megan Felt and Rachel Wells. Their project is entitled Blazing a Trail for the Forgotten. It is a documentary based on Jean Purdy, the first embryologist in history.
Jean’s efforts in helping biologist Dr. Robert Edwards and gynecologist Dr. Patrick Steptoe led to the first IVF baby being born in 1978.
Taly Banwart, Holly Crain, and Abby Jacobs from Fort Scott Christian Learning Center will participate in the Senior Group Performance category, coached by CLC history teacher Dan Kobernat. Their project is entitled A Love Larger Than Life. It is a performance based on Dr. Leila Denmark and her efforts to eradicate whooping cough by creating the pertussis vaccine. Dr. Denmark’s vaccine was the 11th vaccine ever developed.
History Day encourages students to express their knowledge of and interest in history through creative and
original dramatic performances, media presentations, historical papers, website design, or three–dimensional exhibit projects. The research and study for district, state, and national competitions take place throughout the entire school year.
The national competition involves the top 2,000 students from across the nation, chosen from over 800,000
who compete in order to advance from local to state to national competition. All 50 states and several countries will be represented at the National competition. The theme this year is “Frontiers in History: People, Ideas, and Events.”

The Lowell Milken Center provides critiques and helps with research for National History Day Unsung Hero
projects from Kansas and throughout the United States.
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Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes Announces
Wednesday, April 12th Special Event
In honor of the Great Onondaga Chief Hiawatha, unsung Native American hero, the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes invites all to attend a reception for and discussion with the Olympic Gold Medal Winner of the 10,000meter at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics – Billy Mills. Three students will be awarded $100 for writing and performing a poem about “The Leader We Need.” They will each have the opportunity to perform their poem for the audience, after which we will discuss “The Leader We Need.” This event will take place on Wednesday, April 12th at 2:00pm at the Lowell Milken Center at 1 South Main St.

Billy Mills’ visit is sponsored by a grant from Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area, the Lowell Milken Center, and the Friends of the Fort Scott National Historic Site, Inc. This event is in preparation for the “Wahzhazhe: an Osage Ballet” which will have performances on July 21st and 22nd at the Ellis Family Fine Arts Center at the Fort Scott Community College.
About Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area: The FFNHA tells the stories and builds awareness of our region’s past, present and future: the Kansas-Missouri border war, the Civil War, the settlement of the western frontier and rural America, and our enduring struggle for freedom.
About the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes: The Lowell Milken Center is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) that works with students and educators within a range of diverse academic disciplines, to develop projects focused on unsung Heroes.
About the Friends of the Fort Scott National Historic Site, Inc.: The Friends of the Fort provides volunteers and financial support for the Fort Scott National Historic Site special events including the annual immersive Winter Candlelight tour, the annual Naturalization Ceremony, and other educational programming. The Friends advocate for the NHS and solicit and administer contributions/grants to help support the goals and missions of the NHS.
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Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott will host “Army of the Amazons: Women’s Fight for Labor Rights in the Kansas Coalfields,” a presentation and discussion by Linda O’Nelio Knoll on Friday, February 10, 2023 at 2 p.m., at the Lowell Milken Center at 1 South Main Street.
Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Contact the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes at #620-223-1312 for more information. The program is made possible by Humanities Kansas.
Refreshments will be provided for those attending.
To view the poster of the event:
Email Community Book Read (5 × 7 in) (2)(1)
In December 1921, thousands of women in southeast Kansas rose up to fight injustice in the area coalfields.
These women were immigrants from Eastern European nations as well as Kansas born.
After a months-long strike by the coalminers, the women joined the cause. In the short term, their efforts crippled mine production for nearly a month; in the longer term, their continued activism impacted future statewide elections and national legislation.
This talk will share the stories of these women, christened the “Amazon Army” by The New York Times, and their fight for democracy and labor rights in Kansas’s coalfields.
This event will kick off the community reading of two books about Unsung Heroes “Cher Ami” and “Lorraine Hansberry.”
Free books are provided by Humanities Kansas and all are welcome to participate!
Both book discussions will happen at the Lowell Milken Center three weeks after the book is passed out
About Humanities Kansas
Humanities Kansas is an independent nonprofit spearheading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy. Since 1972, our pioneering programming, grants, and partnerships have documented and shared stories to spark conversations and generate insights. Together with our partners and supporters, we inspire all Kansans to draw on history, literature, ethics, and culture to enrich their lives and serve the communities and state we all proudly call home. Visit humanitieskansas.org.
About the Lowell Milken Center: The Lowell Milken Center is a non-profit 501 © (3) that works with students and educators within a range of diverse academic disciplines, to develop projects focused on unsung heroes. Once their projects are finished, we advocate the student’s unsung heroes by sharing them in our Hall of Unsung Heroes or our website so people all over the world discover their individual influence and obligation to take actions that improve the lives of others. The Hall of Unsung Heroes is proudly located in Southeast Kansas and showcases some of the top projects developed in collaboration with the Center.
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The Lowell Milken Center has joined the 34th Annual Toybox campaign which runs through December 13. It is one of the 4-States’ largest toy drives to benefit underprivileged children in Southeast Kansas, Southwest Missouri and Northeast Oklahoma. KOAM News Now, Salvation Army and many other community service organizations and businesses have organized this worthwhile endeavor.
In Fort Scott, new, unwrapped toys for children birth through 16 years of age may be dropped off during regular business hours at the Lowell Milken Center at 1 South Main or at Care4All at 2 W. 18th St. (The Lowell Milken Center is open from 10 am–5 pm, M-F, and 10 am–4 pm on Saturdays.) The toys will be distributed through Compassionate Ministries/Salvation Army here in Bourbon County to families who have registered for holiday assistance.
Toybox Tuesday Telethons will be conducted during the Noon, 5:00 and 6:00 newscasts on KOAM and its KOAM+ streaming platforms. Dates for the telethons are November 29, December 6, and December 13. Viewers have the opportunity to make a tax-deductible financial contribution to support Toybox during the telethons. All monies raised are used to purchase new toys and gifts.
Additional information can be found at http://koamnewsnow.com/Toybox.
Since its inception in 2007, the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes has hosted visitors from around the world, including 104 countries and all 50 US states. On November 4, 2022, the center reached a new milestone with its 12,634th visitor for 2022. That number marks the highest number of visitors the Center has had in one calendar year.
81-year-old John Hammes from Bangor, Wisconsin was the honored visitor for 2022. He is a Vietnam veteran, who visited the Center on his way to a veteran’s celebration in Branson, Missouri with his wife and children. They enjoyed learning the stories of all of the LMC’s Unsung Heroes and could relate to those about Harry Hue and Douglas Hegdahl, both Vietnam veterans themselves. While John was awarded with special gifts from the Center to mark this milestone day, he also gifted the LMC staff with his own special stories about his four tours of duty in Vietnam. The Center thanks John for his service to our country and congratulates him as the 12,634th Visitor for 2022!
Visitors like John and his family continue to help the mission of the Center grow, as they learn about and share the featured Unsung Heroes’ stories and their important impact on the history of our country and the world.
As interest in the Center grows, the number of projects entered in the Discovery Award and ArtEffect competitions grows as well. Consequently, new Unsung Hero exhibits are continually being added to the Lowell Milken Center’s Hall of Heroes, the Lowell Milken Park, and the Center’s website. These unsung heroes become role models that inspire all who learn about them to seek to make a difference in the lives of others.
About the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes:
The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes works with students and educators across diverse academic disciplines to develop history projects that highlight role models who demonstrate courage, compassion and respect. Through our unique project-based learning approach, students discover, develop and communicate the stories of Unsung Heroes who have made a profound and positive impact on the course of history. By championing these Unsung Heroes, students, educators and communities discover their own power and responsibility to effect positive change in the world. Visit www.lowellmilkencenter.org to learn more.

The Fort Scott Area Community Foundation has awarded the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes a grant for $2,500. The grant will fund “Unsung Heroes of the Stars: A Community-wide Stargazing Project.” The monies will purchase a telescope that will be used at the Lowell Milken Park for young and old alike to learn about special unsung hero astronomers. Not only will the project include stargazing but special guests will be invited to teach about space and the people that spent their lives trying to reach it!
About the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation: “The Fort Scott Area Community Foundation hosts individual charitable funds created by donors who have a passion for giving back to their community. Grants from these funds assist people throughout Fort Scott and Bourbon County. Call the Foundation at 620-224-6500 with questions about the Community Foundation.”
About the Lowell Milken Center: The Lowell Milken Center is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) that works with students and educators within a range of diverse academic disciplines, to develop projects focused on unsung heroes.