Bonneville County Heritage Association announces Idaho Day student contests
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IDAHO FALLS — All Bonneville County fourth and seventh through 12th grade students have the opportunity to show off their creative talents and possibly win cash prizes.
The Bonneville County Heritage Association announced its annual student contests in celebration of Idaho Day on March 4. The state theme is Inspiring Idaho Women and the county theme is Women in Idaho History.
“This (contest) gives students the opportunity to learn about their community,” District 91 Curriculum Coordinator and BCHA Board Member Todd Brown says.
On March 4, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signed a congressional act creating Idaho Territory and former U.S. Rep. Linden Bateman, R-Idaho, sponsored the bill to create Idaho Day in the first place.
“The BCHA always wanted to do something to get kids involved in history and to give them a chance to explore it,” Brown says.
Students can enter their work in multiple categories such as calligraphy, digital mapping, drawing, essay writing, handwriting, map drawing and sculpting, music composition, oral history, photography, poetry writing, presentation and sculptures.
“A lot of people do art contests and they do essay contests but we started thinking about all students and no matter what their interests might be, we wanted to give them an opportunity to participate,” Brown says. “So that’s why you see such a wide diversity of different ideas.”
Brown says they didn’t want teachers feeling like they had to do something extra in the classroom for their students to participate, so almost all of the contest entries come from kids who were already doing an assignment for a class project.
Cash prizes will be awarded to the top winner in each category and for the first time, second and third place winners will also receive a prize.
“BCHA is working hard to encourage young people to be interested in their heritage by sponsoring programs specifically for them such as the student contests,” Bonneville County Heritage Association Chair Ann Rydalch said in a press release.
Contest information was distributed to schools in September. Descriptions and scoring rubrics for each contest can also be found here.
Entries must be turned in by 5 p.m. on Jan. 31. They should be submitted to Brown at the District 91 Administration Building at 690 John Adams Parkway in Idaho Falls.
Winners will be announced at the free Idaho Day celebration public event on March 4 at the Colonial Theater (450 A Street, Idaho Falls) at 7 p.m. A silent auction will go from 6-7 p.m. where the public can also view the contest entries during that time.