Queen Creek girl among winners of ‘America’s Field Trip’ contest

Kitelynn Nickerson is about to embark on the summer vacation of a lifetime.

The 9-year-old girl from Queen Creek is one of 125 national winners — and one of only three from Arizona — of the America’s Field Trip celebrating the nation’s 250 birthday.

For her big field trip, Nickerson has chosen to go to the Dakotas.

“I chose it just because I could go see Mount Rushmore and that would be really cool,” she said. “And then, also, I would get to see the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.”

Nickerson will be among the first to visit the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, which opens to the public on July 4.

The home-schooled student won for her drawing for the contest’s theme of “What does America mean to you.” She was chosen from a group of more than 1,000 semifinalists.

She drew a tree symbolizing that nation’s past, present and future, with the roots stemming from key events in America’s founding, such as the Boston Tea Party, the American Revolution and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Above the roots is a little girl watering the tree and flowers. The branches of the tree represent Nickerson’s hopes for the future, including attending law school.

“The roots I was able to represent the past; the flowers, the present; then the branches of the tree are the future,” Nickerson said. “The little girl is me and all the other children in the U.S.A., and we’re watering our hopes and dreams for the future.”

Nickerson said she was inspired by a phrase in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution — “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

“It made me reflect about how the people who came before us sacrificed everything so we could have the freedoms we enjoy today,” she said. “My art shows that those gifts, those freedoms, are like gifts getting passed from one generation to the next.”

Nickerson first heard about the America’s Field Trip contest from her grandmother. This is not the first time the contest has been held, but in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday, the combined first- and second-place winners from third to 12th grade were expanded to 250.

First place winners got to choose from trips all over the country, including Boston, New York City, Atlanta, Dallas, New Orleans and San Francisco. One trip to Washington, D.C., came with an overnight lock-in at the Smithsonian. Second-place winners each scored $500.

Taking the contest very seriously, Nickerson spent three months creating her piece of art.

“We never thought in a million years that she would win something like this. In fact, in order to enter, you had to do a writing portion, or you had to do an art piece, and Kitelynn says, ‘Mom, I’m going to do an art piece,’” said Nickerson’s mother, Kylee Nickerson.

Kylee Nickerson cautioned the girl that she had never taken art classes, and she would be competing against kids who had. But her daughter held firm.

“She’s like, ‘No, Mom. I’m going to do art,’” Kylee Nickerson said. “Well, now I’m having to eat my words just a little bit here.”

Nickerson’s mother, Kylee Nickerson, will be accompanying her daughter on the trip to North and South Dakota from July 11 to July 14.

Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.