Penn-Trafford student Kari Ann Leventopoulos is the statewide winner in the Daughters of the American Revolution’s 2020 American History Essay Contest.

Leventopoulos, 14, was named the eighth-grade winner of the Phoebe Bayard Chapter’s local contest and, at an award luncheon, she learned she also won the top spot in the state for her essay on the this year’s topic, the voyage of the Mayflower.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims setting out aboard the Mayflower from Plymouth, England.

Leventopoulos, who is headed to Penn-Trafford High School this fall, spoke with the Trib about the teacher who inspired her essay and her passion for history.

Q: What is your favorite thing about learning history?

A: I love learning about what life was like in the past for people like me.

Q: What was one surprising thing you learned about the voyage of the Mayflower that you didn’t know before starting the essay project?

A: The Pilgrims and other people on the Mayflower were actually craftsman, not farmers or frontiersman, so they had some problems figuring out how to survive in the New World.

Q: Your mother mentioned that your teacher Lynn Eckberg was a big inspiration when it came to your participation in this essay contest — what is it about her that helped inspire you?

A: Dr. Eckberg always encouraged me and believed in me, and that encouragement inspired me to enter the contest and work very hard on my essay. She was my teacher for the Spectrum Gifted Program throughout elementary school and middle school. She encouraged me to participate in many wonderful events and activities. I will really miss her when I go to high school.

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