RVMS students receive "Unsung Heroes" prize

An American nurse and missionary, who saved the lives of thousands of Armenian children during the Armenian genocide, is finally being recognized for her lifesaving efforts thanks to three eighth-grade students at Royal Valley Middle School.

A documentary by students Luke Boyden, Colin Everts and Colin Caviness has shed light on the large impact Emma Darling Cushman had in Asia Minor during World War I and has won the international Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes 2016 Discovery Award, which includes a $7,500 cash prize. 

“Emma Darling Cushman is probably the bravest, kindest and most stubborn person we have every researched,” said Boyden during a special award ceremony last Wednesday at the school. “She stood up against an entire empire. She cared for thousands of orphans and tried to return them to their Armenian families and that’s what this project is about.”

Boyden is the son of Tim and Christi Boyden, Everts is the son of Ethan and Chris Everts and Caviness is the son of Andy Caviness and the late Kathy Caviness.

Born in New York, Cushman became a nurse and then traveled to Turkey in 1900 to become a missionary. At the onset of World War I, all foreigners were ordered to leave the country, but Cushman refused to leave.

When the Ottoman Empire attacked Armenia, many Armenian children became orphans, and Cushman “swooped them up into her loving arms and off the streets.”  

She later tried to reunite the children with their families.

In addition to caring for countless orphans, Cushman served as acting consul of the Allies and Neutral Nations, overseeing millions of dollars in relief funds and prisoner exchanges.

The students said Cushman’s dedication to her cause was inspirational.

“You need to stand up for things that you believe in,” Everts said. “She stood for herself and her religion and for others who couldn’t stand up for themselves.”

Last fall, a group of students from Seaman High School won the Unsung Hero Discovery Award competition, and RVMS history teacher Nate McAlister took notice.

“I always want to challenge my students so I posted the newspaper clipping on a board at the school with a note that read, ‘Why not us?’” McAlister said. “These three young men answered the challenge, and I could not be more proud of all they have accomplished.”

In November, Boyden, Everts and Caviness began researching Cushman and interviewed a relative of Cushman’s, a descendant of an Armenian orphan, an Armenian priest, a UCLA professor and others.

The students said they divided the workload, with Boyden conducting the interviews and doing the bulk of the research, Caviness focusing on the technical elements of the documentary and Everts formatting the 18-page bibliography and other paperwork associated with the competition.

They worked right up to the July deadline and then hand delivered the project and paperwork to the Milken Center in Fort Scott. McAlister was notified a few weeks ago that the students had won the award and the prize money.

“Mr. McAlister walked into class and screamed we got first place,” Caviness said. “I don’t think it sunk in at first.”

The RVMS students’ project was selected for the grand prize out of more than 50 projects.

“This was our strongest year of applicants yet,” said Norm Conrad, Lowell Milken Center executive director. “We were truly impressed by the discoveries made and quality of projects completed by students across the country and the world through robust research and a commitment to celebrating Unsung Heroes from history.”

The Discovery Award provides U.S. and international students in grades fourth through 12th a unique opportunity to use their creative talents to develop projects that feature Unsung Heroes from history who demonstrate the power that one person has to make positive change in the world, Conrad said.

Projects can take the form of documentary/multimedia, performance or website. 

While the students were researching Cushman, they had a hard time determining where she was buried. It was discovered that Cushman was buried in an unmarked grave in an American cemetery in Cairo, Egypt upon her death in 1930 due to blackwater fever at the age of 66.

Because of their discovery of, and robust research on, Cushman, the students have been given the honor of inscribing her headstone.

“We’re amazed that we’ve been giving this opportunity,” Boyden said. “We’ve decided to go with the title of our project, Emma Darling Cushman: A Light In The Darkness.”

Caviness said the boys agreed to each take $2,000 of the prize money and then donate $1,500 to the school to help fund the projects class, which is a class designated for students who excel in history to work on special projects, such as their documentary.

Personally, Caviness said he plans to buy a few video games with his winnings before saving the rest. Everts said his share will be tucked away for college, and Boyden said he hasn’t thought much about the prize money. 

“The money is great, but the thing we want most is people to know about Emma,” Boyden said. “Her extraordinary accomplishments and her enduring legacy for thousands of Armenian children and their families. This project didn’t just change our lives, it changed how Emma will be remembered. We’re all so glad to be a part of this project – to be a part of Emma’s story. Emma did all the hard work. It was our responsibility, our honor, to tell her story.”

The documentary can be viewed at lowellmilkencenter.org/2016-discovery-award-winners.