The Fort Hays State University Leadership 310 Class is promoting history and writing among area children.  A group from the FHSU class held a writing contest for 4th grade students in Washington and St. Mary’s grade schools in Ellis.  The goal of the contest was to increase exposure of the Walter P. Chrysler Boyhood Home and Museum located in Ellis.

Students were challenged to write an essay somehow relating to Chrysler, the museum or his home.  A ceremony was held for Washington students on November 6th where winners from their school were announced.  St. Mary’s will hold a ceremony for students Wednesday, November 13th at 4:30 beginning at the museum and ending at the school with pizza served to those in attendance.  Each participating student will earn a t-shirt, and medals will be awarded for the top three essays as chosen by the leadership class.

Zack McClure, one of the FHSU students holding this event, said that his class would like to make this an annual event to promote the museum.  He said the group has discovered that most people aren’t fully aware of the museum and all it offers.

“We had some sponsors for t-shirts, and a lot of the sponsors that we went to weren’t quite [aware].  I mean they knew it was there but it just sits in the background in Ellis. We wanted it to come out in the forefront.”

McClure added that over the course of the project, he’s been amazed at the information some of the students included in their essays, and at times it seemed like 4th graders were teaching college students something new with each entry.

The FHSU group created a Facebook page to promote the The Walter P. Chrysler Boyhood Home and Museum, which is located at 10th and Washington in Ellis, KS.