America250PA, together with America250, the official nonpartisan entity charged by Congress with planning the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, announced that 11 Pennsylvania students were selected as inaugural “America’s Field Trip” awardees.

America’s Field Trip is a nationwide scholastic contest encouraging students to reflect on what America means to them, with first-place awardees receiving special behind-the-scenes experiences at iconic American historical and cultural sites.

Thousands of students across the country sent in inspiring submissions responding to the prompt “What does America mean to you?” Out of those submissions, 75 were named first-place awardees, and 75 were selected as second-place awardees, receiving a $500 cash award.

Locally, third-grader Lydia Zink of Weatherly was among the first-place winners. A full list of the 150 nationwide awardees and their submissions is available at america250.org/fieldtrip/awardees.

First-place awardees will participate in one of the following field trip experiences this summer:

• Tour of the Statue of Liberty in New York.

• Tour and hike at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Montana.

• Weekend at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

• Unique tours at the National Archives and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

• Special tours at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, National Museum of African American History and Culture, or the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

• Explore America’s iconic financial capital, New York City, with private tours of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Museum and Learning Center and The Bank of New York, the country’s oldest bank.

• Experience National Parks of Boston with a special visit to the USS Constitution and a sunset cruise to Spectacle Island.

• Candlelight tour at Fort Point at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.

• Costumed role playing experience at American Village in Alabama.

To learn more, visit America250.org.