Yellowstone National Park, Angel Island or Fort Point in San Francisco, Meso Verde National Park, the Kennedy Space Center with NASA.

We also have the National Archives and the Estonian National Zoo.

Mount Rushmore to the Alamo, to the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas.

Good morning and welcome to Kid News Compos. I'm Tori. Well, how'd you like to win a free vacation to an awesome cultural landmark in the U.S.? That's what we'll be talking about in today's episode. It's a nationwide contest called America's field trip. To enter, kids just need to answer the question, what does America mean to you? There'll be

75 first place winners, and the teachers can get a prize too. This contest is part of an effort to mark

the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 2026, and it's put together

by a national, nonpartisan organization called America

250. And joining us now is the head of America 250, Rosie Rios. Ms. Rios served as the 43rd

treasurer of the United States and was the CEO of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S.

Mint. She's also the founder and CEO

of Empowerment 2026, which, among other things, is working on more recognition of historical

American women in classrooms across the country. And she's been honored as one of USA Today's

Women of the Century. Rosie, it's an honor to have you as a guest. Thank you so much,

Tori, for having me and thrilled to be here. Now, this contest, America's field trip, what was the

inspiration behind it? So America's field trip, as you mentioned, it's a national contest for grades

three through 12. We get to answer this question. What does America mean to you? And the award recipients get to

choose from a series of backstage experiences, mostly with our federal agencies, and most of which

have never been offered to the public before. So it's a great kind of win-win to really inspire

the next generation of leadership to participate in the 250th anniversary, the signing of the Declaration

of Independence. And at the same time, it really

puts our national treasures on the map. So everything from, you know, whether it's our national

parks, the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, they're all participating

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