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Contact: Sarah Revell
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Secretary Detzner Announces Winners of the 2017 Florida History Day State Contest

Outstanding students and teachers from across the state recognized and presented with awards

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –

Secretary of State Ken Detzner and the Museum of Florida History are pleased to announce the winners of the annual Florida History Day (FHD) state competition, formerly known as Florida History Fair, held in Tallahassee on May 7–9. More than 60,000 students from around Florida participated in Florida History Day this year and the top entries from each county competed at the state contest. At the event, outstanding history teachers from across the state were also recognized and presented with awards.

“The students and teachers who participated in this year’s Florida History Day are a shining example of the talent and creativity in Florida schools,” said Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner. “I’d like to recognize all of the students who devoted time and energy to their projects and I want to congratulate the award winners who will represent Florida in the National History Day competition. I also applaud the teachers who were honored with awards this year for inspiring students and cultivating their interest in history.”

PHOTO: Students gather at the annual Florida History Day. Additional pictures from the event can be found on the Florida History Day’s Facebook page here.

More than 1,140 middle and high school students competed in the FHD state competition.Students presented award-winning research in a variety of mediums including documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances and websites. The top two placements in each category are invited to represent Florida at the National History Day contest on June 11-15 in College Park, Maryland.

Below is a full list of student and teacher award winners.

 Junior Historical Paper

1st Place       Zachary Juan

Fred Korematsu's War Against Injustice

Williams Middle Magnet School (Hillsborough)

2nd Place     Victor Xie

Taking a Stand to Defend the Skies: The Flying Tigers of World War II

Thurgood Marshall Fundamental (Pinellas)

3rd Place      Albert Zhang

Rachel Carson: Standing Up for Nature

James Weldon Johnson College Preparatory Middle School (Duval)

Senior Historical Paper

1st Place       Wenjie Gong

Alice Seeley Harris: Confronting the Depredation of European Imperialism

Seminole High School (Seminole)

2nd Place     Courtney Dantzler

Arnold Schoenberg: A Musical Bogeyman?

Stanton College Preparatory (Duval)

3rd Place      Elena Lopez- Belio

Galileo's Stand Against the Catholic Church

American Heritage School Of Boca/Delray (Palm Beach)

Junior Individual Documentary

1st Place       Jonathan Bogen

Mikhail Gorbachev: The Evolution of a Revolutionary

American Heritage School Of Boca/Delray (Palm Beach)

2nd Place     Joshua Hoffman

Stand and Deliver

American Heritage School (Broward)

3rd Place      Nanako Kondo

Taking a Stand: Chuine Sugihara, the Man Who Saved 6,000 Lives

The Weiss School (Palm Beach)

 Junior Group Documentary

1st Place       Jack Lohse, Mack Alfele

Taking a Stand in the Sand: The Fort Lauderdale Beach Wade-Ins

Beachside Montessori Village (Broward)

2nd Place     Myles Fisher, Hayato Shiomitsu

Tiananmen Square: The Moment that Defined Modern China

Fort Clarke Middle School (Alachua)

3rd Place      Yash Vardhan, Rohan Cherivirala, Divij Lankalapalli

William Wilberforce: Exposing the Horrors of Slavery

Sanford Middle School (Seminole)

 Senior Individual Documentary

1st Place       Malavika Kannan

Chico Mendes: Martyr for the Amazon

Seminole High School (Seminole)

2nd Place     Carmen Dosev

Bulgaria's Choice

Pensacola Catholic High School (Escambia)

3rd Place      Matias Civita

Taking a Stand in History: The Kent State Incident

Spanish River Community High School (Palm Beach)

Senior Group Documentary

1st Place       Catherine Lee, Beverly Maddux, Nicole Leary

Thomas Nast: Seriously Funny

St. Petersburg High School (Pinellas)

2nd Place     Jennifer Hanapole, Rumaisa Khalid, Veronica Lara

Giving Life to Choice

Spanish River Community High School (Palm Beach)

3rd Place      Emma Hanley, Quinn Holden-Schrock

Smokey Hollow: the Community Without a Voice

James Rickards High School (Leon)

Junior Individual Performance

1st Place       Max Mateer

Two Goats on a Bridge and a Torpedo Underneath

Gulf Breeze Middle School (Santa Rosa)

2nd Place     Nina Giraldo

                        Aung San Suu Kyi—Standing for Democracy

Sarasota Middle School (Sarasota)

3rd Place      Asher Moss

Elie Wiesel: Standing Against Genocidal Indifference

The Weiss School (Palm Beach)

Junior Group Performance 

1st Place       Trinaty Barber, Corinne McCormick, Emily Garnica

Margaret Hughes: Opening the Curtains to Women's Rights in Theatre

Dunedin Highland Middle School (Pinellas)

2nd Place     Annika Fuller, Hadassah Ebdora, Talya White

The Pullman Strike: An Impetus to Change

John Hopkins Middle School (Pinellas)

3rd Place      Alexa Ruiz, Synnvove Mikkelsen

Betty Friedan and the Feminine Mystique

American Heritage School (Broward)

Senior Individual Performance

1st Place       A. Tris Weeks

Edelweiss Pirates: The German Teens that Fought for Freedom

Pensacola Catholic High School (Escambia)

2nd Place     Kiara Thompson

Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution

Leon High School (Leon)

3rd Place      Walker Willis

Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution

Shorecrest Preparatory School (Pinellas)

Senior Group Performance

1st Place       Madeline Jean-Marie, Victoria Pereira,

Natalia Vargas, Jasmine Jean-Marie

Taking a Step into History: South African Gumboot

Weeki Wachee High School (Hernando)

2nd Place     Julia Arciola, Linsey Smith

Sophie Scholl

The North Broward Preparatory Schools (Broward)

3rd Place      Grace Hallam, Abigal Stolp

Deaf President Now: How One Week Changed the Deaf World Forever

Lawton Chiles High School (Leon)

Junior Individual Exhibit

1st Place       Grace Mims

Rachel Carson: Standing for the Environment

Gulf Breeze Middle School (Santa Rosa)

2nd Place     Maya Moise

Service not Servitude

American Heritage School (Broward)

3rd Place      Colin Stroble

The Global Stand Against Polio

Sarasota Middle School (Sarasota)

Junior Group Exhibit

1st Place       Corrine Sypek, Manuela Herrera

Rosie the Riveter

American Heritage School Of Boca/Delray (Palm Beach)

2nd Place     Joy Chi, Jeni Chi

Grace Abbott: The Voice of the Children and Immigrants

Deerlake Middle School (Leon)

3rd Place      Chloe Cate, Amara Schoppmann

Stonewall Riots

  1. H. Workman Middle School (Escambia)

Senior Individual Exhibit

1st Place       Mallory Bramel

Mass Graves for the Misbehaved: Taking A Stand against the Injustice of the Incorrigibles

Milton High (Santa Rosa)

2nd Place     John Jutras

Floridians Take a Bite: Dr. Porter Leads Florida in the War against Mosquitoes

Pensacola Catholic High School (Escambia)

3rd Place      Spencer Bredoff

A World Without War: Draft Dodgers, Conscientious Objectors, and Protesters Speak for Peace

American Academy Of Boca/Delray (Palm Beach) 

Senior Group Exhibit

1st Place       Creed King, Kate Powell

"Law Not War": Benjamin Ferencz's Lifelong Stand for Peace through Justice

Leon High School (Leon)

2nd Place     Daniela Hazan, Ekabouna (Kiki) Joseph

Watergate Scandal

American Heritage School (Broward)

3rd Place      Kyra Riggins, Belicia Torres

Leningrad: Standing Up When the City is Falling Down

Frank W. Springstead High School (Hernando)

Junior Individual Website

1st Place       Akash Bhat

Aneurin Bevan and the National Health Service

Fairview Middle School (Leon)

2nd Place     Gabriel Lerner-Sperow

From Dixie To D.C.: John Lewis's Long March to Rights

Okaloosa STEMM Center (Okaloosa)

3rd Place      Paige Sondgeroth

Susan B. Anthony: Taking a Stand for Women's Suffrage

Holy Nativity Episcopal School (Bay)

Junior Group Website

1st Place       Kaitlyn Haslam, Kathryn Froehlich, Alondra Curet, Justin Barber

Ignaz Semmelweis - Taking a Stand to Save Lives

Osceola County School For The Arts (Osceola)

2nd Place     Erin Collier, Sara Machado

The Women's War

Community Christian School (Leon)

3rd Place      Ginger Koehler, Hannah Spencer

Martin Luther: Sparking a Religous Reformation

Fort Clarke Middle School (Alachua)

Senior Individual Website

1st Place       Joey Jung

Taking a Stand: Korea During the March First Movement

Lincoln High School (Leon)

2nd Place     Alaa Osman

Tearing Away the Red Cloth of Communism: Chinese Students Taking a Stand Against Maoism During the 1980s

Ridgeview High School (Clay)

3rd Place      Cassandra Colaco

The Descent into Madness

King High School (Hillsborough)

Senior Group Website

1st Place       Kyle Nguyen, Sophia Chen

The Revolutionary Reforms of Jacob A. Riis: Bringing Light to America's Dark Half

Palm Harbor University High (Pinellas)

2nd Place     Alvin Nguyen, Dylan Palmer, Amadeus Reif

The Baltic Resistance: Taking a Stand Against Soviet Occupation

Frank W. Springstead High School (Hernando)

3rd Place      Nicholas Skoufis, Mehul Kapur, Sami Humeda

The Haitian Revolution: A Stand Against Imperialism

Pensacola High School (Escambia)

Teacher Award Winners

Teacher of Merit Award Winner: Deanne Reynolds, Pembroke Pines Charter Middle School– West Campus (Broward)

Mayflower Outstanding Teacher Award: Alissa Kester, Mandarin High School (Duval)

Student Scholarship Winners

Mayflower Legacy Scholarship Award Winners

Senior Division

Zoe Zimmerman, Manatee School for the Arts (Manatee)

Junior Division

Andrew Arndt, Aidan Hogan and Aabhas Jain, Dunedin Highland Middle School (Pinellas)

National Maritime Historical Society Scholarship Award Winners

Senior Division

Zac Brown, Classical Preparatory School (Pasco)

Junior Division

Katelyn Turney-Rudisill, Bay Haven Charter Middle School (Bay)

Special Prize Award Winners

African American Heritage Award: William An, Frank W. Springstead High School (Hernando)

American Colonial Heritage Award: Andrew Arndt, Aidan Hogan and Aabhas Jain, Dunedin Highland Middle School (Pinellas)                     

American History Innovation Award: Zoe Zimmerman, Manatee School for the Arts (Manatee)                       

Best Use of Primary Sources Award, Junior Division: Sophia Cicerchia and Hannah Snyder, The Weiss School (Palm Beach)

Best Use of Primary Sources Award, Senior Division: Camille Luong, St. Petersburg High School (Pinellas)

Celebrate Freedom Award: Tyler Roy, Berkley Accelerated Middle School (Polk)                

Economic Freedom Award: Hailey Ward, Gulf Breeze Middle School (Santa Rosa)                                               

Florida Heritage Award: Thuytran Bui Vo, Port St. Lucie High School (St. Lucie                             

Florida Historic Preservation Award: Maria Caballero, Natalee Escobar and Alyssa Hernandez, Pembroke Pines Charter Middle West (Broward)                              

Frederick Cubberly Florida History Award: Katie Mann, Lawton Chiles High School (Leon)

Hispanic Heritage Award: Alex Franco, Dunedin Highland Middle School (Pinellas                        

Holocaust Education Award: Deepika Kannan, Sanford Middle School (Seminole)   

Legal Heritage Award: Lorraine Angelakos, Pompano Beach High School (Browar                         

Mapping History Award: Jesse Ann Barbee, Malechi Eve Sable and Zoe Thornton, Martha B. King Middle School (Manatee)                     

Military Heritage Award: Parker Beverly, Pensacola High School (Escambia)

Native American Heritage Award: Meredith McGee, Ernest Ward Middle School (Escambia)

Science Heritage Award: Anisha Abraham, Dunedin Highland Middle School (Pinellas)

Space Heritage Award: Logan Beatty and Manoj Kambara, Land O’Lakes High School (Pasco)

Sports Heritage Award: Lin Ai Liao, Cornerstone Learning Community (Leon)

Women’s Heritage Award: Graybill Partington, Episcopal Day School Christ Church (Escambia)

World War II Heritage Award: Grace Stanley, Brown Barge Middle School (Escambia)

For more information about Florida History Day, please visit the Florida History Day website here.

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 About Florida History Day
Florida History Day, formerly known as Florida History Fair, is part of National History Day (NHD). NHD was established in 1974 to promote history in the classroom by offering students the means and encouragement to research people, ideas, and events of the past. The 2016–17 theme is "Taking A Stand In History.” After analyzing and interpreting the information they have gathered, students express their findings in a paper, exhibit, performance, documentary, or website. More than 60,000 students participated in the 2016–2017 Florida History Day. For more information, visit floridahistoryday.com.

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