Logan Zabarkes, a student at Red Lion Area Junior High School, recently won the grand prize in a national history competition with his Lego stop motion video about Harry Truman.

The teen from Windsor borough learned about Project POTUS, a middle school program from the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis, Indiana, through his social studies teacher, Troy Strayer. He explained to the students that they could create a one-minute video about a president and enter it into the competition to win a prize.

Zabarkes, who enjoys making movies, said he thought, “Why not give it a shot?”

He decided to create a Lego stop motion video — he likes making them and has a lot of Lego pieces — and he chose Truman as the subject. Zabarkes learned about the 33rd president, including his decision to drop the atomic bomb during World War II, in a leadership class he took in eighth grade.

“Harry Truman kind of became my favorite president,” he said.

He added that Truman isn’t as well known as presidents such as George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.

Zabarkes researched Truman’s life and realized that he had too much information to fit into a one-minute video. He had to choose the best facts.

“I actually think he spent more time narrowing down his facts then he did actually building the Lego sets,” his mother, Marsha Zabarkes, said.

It took him about a week to build, film and edit the video.

In the end, it highlighted the president’s life, including how he became commander in chief when President Franklin Roosevelt died and his efforts to protect other countries from communism.

More than 300 students from 18 states participated in the competition this year, according to the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site. A grand jury of historians and media professionals select the winners, and more than $5,000 in prizes was awarded.

Happy to win the Project POTUS grand prize

Zabarkes said he was playing a game with his sister when he received the email that he won the grand prize.

He went downstairs, exclaiming, “Oh my gosh, mom, dad, I won!” He shared that he was happy.

“He was more excited than what a normal 14-year-old teenage boy might be,” his mother said.

The news of his win has been shared within the school district and community.

The grand prize includes a $500 award.

He plans to save half of it, possibly for college, and he’s used some of the money to create a costume. He’s into cosplay, his mother said. He’s a big creator and loves art. He’s been making stop motion animations since he was six.

Zabarkes, who will be entering ninth grade this fall, said he is excited to take cinematography classes in high school.

How to enter Project POTUS

Students can enter the Project POTUS competition annually between Election Day and Presidents’ Day.

For more information, visit PresidentBenjaminHarrison.org.

To view all of the winning entries, visit ProjectPOTUS.org.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Red Lion student wins Project POTUS competition with Lego video