For its 2024 Discovery Award competition, the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott has awarded over $25,000 in cash prizes to elementary, middle, and high school students. This international competition is designed to inspire students to develop primary and secondary research projects that share the stories of unsung heroes who have impacted history, yet their stories remain largely unknown.
LMC Program Director Megan Felt awarded the $1,000 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, Bela Hazan. Through their primary and secondary research, Anna and Danika discovered the courage and significance of Hazan as a courier and member of the Jewish Resistance, who smuggled information, money, and arms among various ghettos during the Holocaust. (Teacher Susan Sittenauer)
"We greatly value LMC Fellow Susan Sittenauer's outstanding work with her students' Discovery Award entries over the years," said LMC Executive Director Norm Conard. "This year, her students, Anna and Danika, produced a dynamic documentary about Unsung Hero Bela Hazan's courageous role in the Jewish Resistance."
LMC's Discovery Award provides a unique opportunity for U.S. 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. "Their stories need to be discovered and heard, motivating new generations to aspire to values that are essential during the challenging times we face."
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. LMC has reached over 3,000,000 students and 30,000 schools in all 50 states and countries worldwide. Learn more about LMC and the Discovery Award. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.