For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Contact: Sarah Revell
850.245.6522
[email protected]
Florida Students Excel at National History Day
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –
Secretary of State Ken Detzner is pleased to announce that Florida students excelled at the National History Day (NHD) competition in College Park, Maryland, winning eight national awards and recognitions. On June 10–14, 58 students and 21 teachers represented the Sunshine State by attending the national competition at the University of Maryland.
“At the Florida History Day state contest this past May, I was thrilled to meet these young historians, who spent months conducting research and developing their entries,” said Secretary of State Ken Detzner. “I’m delighted that their hard work, creativity and dedication has been recognized at the national contest.”
The students’ entries previously won first or second place in May at the Florida History Day state contest, sponsored by the Museum of Florida History. The middle- and high-school students presented their findings in a documentary, historical paper, performance, exhibit, or website related to the 2017–18 theme “Conflict and Compromise in History.” More than 60,000 students participated statewide, making Florida one of the largest programs among the 57 National History Day affiliates.
The national contest drew more than 3,000 students from the 50 states, District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and international schools in Southeast Asia. This year Florida received several top honors.
Listed below are Florida’s national-level winners by county:
Bay County
Outstanding Affiliate Award—Junior Division
Ruby Tilghman—Junior Individual Performance
Sugar Fight and Everything Nice: Women in World War II on the Homefront and Beyond North Bay Haven Charter Academy Middle School; Teacher: Cheryl Duncan
Broward County
Second Place: Junior Group Documentary
Jack Lohse and Mack Alfele
South Florida: The Staging Ground for a Nuclear Showdown
School Beachside Montessori Village; Teacher: Nancy Roman
Second Place: Senior Individual Website
Jiayong “Celia” Lu
A Little Ball Moved the Big Ball
American Heritage/Plantation; Teachers: Leslie Porges, Kimberly Hughes
Escambia County
First Place: Senior Individual Performance
Max Mateer
Pushing the Pawn from the Purchase to the Pacific
Pensacola High School; Teacher: Michael Jones
National History Academy scholarship
Max Mateer was awarded a National History Academy scholarship. The National History Academy is a residential camp in Virginia for high-school students with a passion for learning more about the foundations of American Democracy.
Hillsborough County
Second Place: Senior Individual Exhibit
Sarah Robison
This Is My War Too!
Homeschool; Teacher: Deborah Robison
Outstanding Affiliate Award—Senior Division
Sarah Schoellhorn—Senior Individual Exhibit
Margaret Sanger: Choosing a Life of Conflict to Gain Women's Reproductive Rights
Carrollwood Day School; Teacher: Sabrina McCartney
Sarasota County
Second Place: Senior Group Exhibit
Gopi Patel and Shivni Patel
Commerciogenic Malnutrition: Conflict and Compromise in the Infant Formula Controversy in the 1970s
School Pine View School; Teacher Carol Lavallee
Listed below are the students whose entry is among the top ten projects in their division and category.
Broward County
Sixth Place: Junior Group Exhibit
Hana Starkman and Nicole Gorbatov
Fields of Despair
American Heritage/Plantation
Teacher: Leslie Porges
Lake County
Ninth Place: Senior Group Performance
Carlie Sullivan, Faith Eaton, MacLaine Thompson, and Schuyler Thompson
Woman Uprising: Rose Schneiderman
Real Life Christian Academy; Teachers: Mark Dineen and Steve Lebron
Pasco County
Tenth Place: Senior Group Documentary
Emma Barrett, Endora Ankrah, and Maya Eason
The Berlin Conference
Land O' Lakes High School; Teacher: Jennifer O'Connor-Podraza
Seminole County
Ninth Place: Junior Group Documentary
Ashali Sharma and Ritisha Suresh
The Peace of Westphalia: A Compromise That Shaped Our Modern World
Sanford Middle School; Teacher: Mike Travis
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About Florida History Day
Florida History Day is an affiliate 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 2017–18 theme is "Conflict and Compromise 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 2017–18 Florida History Day. For more information visit: floridahistoryday.com.