Logan Zabarkes, a student at Red Lion Area Junior High School, recently won the top prize in a national history competition with his Lego stop-motion video about Harry Truman.
The Windsor neighborhood teen learned about Project POTUS, a high school program at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis, Indiana, through his social studies teacher, Troy Strayer. He explained to the students that they could make a one-minute video about a president and enter it into the contest to win a prize.
Zabarkes, who enjoys making films, said he thought, “Why don’t we give it a try?”
He decided to make a stop-motion video out of Lego – he likes making them and has a lot of Lego parts – and he chose Truman as the subject. Zabarkes learned about the 33rd president, including his decision to drop the atomic bomb during World War II, in a leadership class he took in eighth grade.
“Harry Truman kind of became my favorite president,” he said.
He added that Truman is not as well known as presidents like George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.
Zabarkes researched Truman’s life and realized he had too much information to fit into a one-minute video. He had to choose the best facts.
“I actually think he spent more time refining his facts than actually building the Lego sets,” said his mother, Marsha Zabarkes.
It took him about a week to build, film and edit the video.
Ultimately, it highlighted the president’s life, including how he became commander in chief when President Franklin Roosevelt died and his efforts to protect other countries from communism.
More than 300 students from 18 states participated in this year’s competition, according to the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site. A grand jury of historians and media professionals selects the winners, and more than $5,000 in prizes were awarded.
Happy to win the grand prize of Project POTUS
Zabarkes said he was playing a game with his sister when he received the email that he had won the grand prize.
He went down and exclaimed, “Oh my god, mommy, daddy, I won!” He shared that he was happy.
“He was more excited than a normal 14-year-old teenage boy could be,” his mother said.
News of his victory has been shared within the school district and community.
The top prize comes with a cash prize of $500.
He plans to save half of it, possibly for college, and used some of the money to make a costume. He likes cosplay, his mother said. He is a great creator and loves art. He has been making stop-motion animations since he was six.
Zabarkes, who will enter ninth grade this fall, said he is excited to take film classes in high school.
How to access Project POTUS
Students can participate in the Project POTUS competition annually between Election Day and Presidents Day.
For more information, visit presidentBenjaminHarrison.org.
Visit ProjectPOTUS.org to view all winning entries.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Red Lion student wins Project POTUS competition with Lego video
