America 250

Celebrate 250 Years of Freedom: FNSBSD America250 Student Competition!

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a bold declaration changed the world. Now, it’s our turn in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District to tell the story! FNSBSD invites all K–12 students to unleash their creativity, honor our nation's history, and imagine its future through visual art and original written essays.

Whether you’re a budding painter, a master storyteller, or an educator looking for an inspiring classroom project, this is your chance to shine on a district-wide stage.

Ways to Participate:

Visual Arts: Express what freedom, unity, history, or community means to you through painting, drawing, or mixed media. Let your canvas paint a vision for the future.
Essay: Craft a compelling written piece reflecting on the legacy of the Declaration of Independence, what civic voice means today, or your vision for America’s next quarter-millennium.

Why Jump In?

For Students: Earn recognition, win district prizes, and see your artwork or writing showcased in a special community exhibition celebrating this historic milestone.
For Teachers: Turn history into an interactive experience! Easily integrate contest prompts into social studies, language arts, or visual arts curricula to boost student engagement.

Competition Structure

Each school will host a school wide competition using the prompts on each grade band link below.
- Students can choose from a variety of prompts
Each school will send their top three entries from each appropriate grade band to the district competition

Kindergarten–2nd Grade
3rd–5th Grade
Middle School
High School

Students can provide either a written response to the chosen prompt or an art piece that must include a short written explanation.
Judging will take place at schools the week of Oct. 26th- 30th.
Winning submissions are due to Teaching and Learning Dept. no later that Monday, November 2nd.

Select a grade band to see the competition prompts