TOPEKA (KSNT) - Topeka's 170th birthday is this Thursday, December 5, and students at Washburn University are planning to celebrate accordingly. Students enrolled in introductory in community studies will be presenting their semester-long projects to different members of the community. Students partnered with local neighborhood improvement associations all semester to l earn about local neighborhoods here in Topeka and the city's history as a whole. The class is taught by Dr. Jason Miller, a sociology and anthropology professor at the university. When to mail packages, letters this holiday season "I hope that the students take away the fact that Topeka is a pretty cool place and there's a lot of things happening here," Miller said. "I think people often have one story of Topeka in their minds, and don't realize all the incredible things happening across the city." Presentations will take place this Wednesday on campus at Plass Learning Resource Center from 2:30-3:45 p.m. Anyone in Topeka is invited to listen. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.