Discover KS
TOPEKA — A documentary about a local central Kansas attraction received a 2nd place award in the recently announced Festival of Media Arts competition.
The Garden of Eden, located in Lucas earned this prestigious award in the short form documentary category.
The awards were announced by the Broadcast Education Association (Washington, DC) for projects completed in 2024. The BEA Festival is the preeminent international media competition focused on student and faculty creative endeavors. Over 1,700 submissions were entered in 60 different categories ranging from audio, video, interactive multimedia, news, scriptwriting and sports.
Ryan Schuckman, a graduate of Hays High School and a junior in the Department of Informatics at Fort Hays State University created the documentary by researching the project, shooting the rough footage, obtaining supplemental historical images, editing the footage and mixing the final audio/video piece. He also arranged and conducted the interview with Ericka Nelson, the Cultural Resources Director for the Garden of Eden.
The documentary has been featured on Smoky Hills PBS, Bunker Hill, Tiger Media Network and various other social media sites.
The Broadcast Education Association (BEA) is an international academic media organization promoting excellence in media production and career advancement for educators, students and professionals. The BEA is devoted to multimedia research and teaching, and retains the historical purpose to prepare college students interested in telecommunications and electronic mass media for careers in radio and television.
Links:
https://beaweb.org/festival/wp-ontent/uploads/2025/02/2025-student-win.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORGRlYFpL_o
https://beaweb.org/wp