Hannah Leatherman, a freshman at Seward High School, won the Caring for the Kenai contest on Thursday, April 17th, with her innovative idea for a black ice asphalt mix that helps prevent accidents caused by ice. Hannah’s victory was achieved against twelve other KPBSD finalists, all with their unique ideas about how to benefit the community. This is the first time a Seward student has ever taken the top award! In 2019, Lindy Guernsey and Akilena Veach achieved a second-place finish with their drone project.
Leatherman explained, “When I started my project, I looked at various ideas, and the root of those problems was black ice.” This idea is based on an issue affecting not just the Kenai Peninsula communities, but all over the country.
Caring for the Kenai is a contest that benefits the Kenai Peninsula by raising awareness about the environment through student ideas. For the last thirty-five years, the contest has been used to increase public understanding of our communities’ environmental and natural disaster challenges.
Each participant is required to submit a persuasive essay enclosing their ideas and a solution. There are over six hundred applications submitted and judged; then, the top twelve ideas are selected to give a convincing presentation in front of a panel of seven judges. They have several weeks to prepare for this presentation, and the most admired speech takes all.
It is the participant’s decision if they would like to carry on with the proposal after the competition. In Hannah’s case, the production of her idea is still in progress. Winning the contest means she has the chance to collaborate with experts to bring her idea to life. In addition, regardless of whether the project resumes, she will be granted a $2,000 cash prize.
She said, “Later at the winning banquet, I will get paired up with a team of professionals to implement the plan.” This opportunity to work with others could significantly enhance her project and make a real impact on road safety.
Hannah’s vision for her project goes beyond just winning a contest. She believes it could lead to more opportunities in the future. She stated, “Definitely the start to the future could potentially be a tunnel to a career path I am willing to take up in the future.” This shows that she sees her project as a stepping stone towards a career in engineering or environmental science, where she can continue to innovate and help her community.
Hannah offers some wise advice for future participants of the competition: “Have fun, don’t stress. I made that mistake; it was not beneficial to my performance or my delivery.” One of the biggest challenges she faced during the competition was “getting the speech nailed down and presenting it.” Despite the pressure and nerves, she worked hard and managed to deliver her message effectively to the panel. Her journey is a great reminder that while competitions can be intimidating, they can also be rewarding and fun.
Hannah’s triumph inspires us to pursue our passions and work hard for what we believe in, showing that with dedication and creativity, we can all contribute to making our communities safer and better places to live. Caring for the Kenai is a tenured, student contest that will continue to give kids an outlet for creativity and analytical reasoning to help their communities for many years to come.
