Westport Students Excel At National History Day Contests

WESTPORT, CT — Tenth grade United States History Honors students from Staples High School and eighth graders from Bedford Middle School recently returned to Sacred Heart University to once again demonstrate their academic skills at the 2018 National History Day Regional Competition.

This annual competition determines the projects that will advance to the state contest where students will compete for a chance to attend the National History Day competition at the University of Maryland in June, according to a release.

At Staples, National History Day has grown in size and popularity over the past few years, offering students a chance to compete academically through their historical research. The 2018 contest theme, Conflict and Compromise, allowed Staples students to bridge their U.S. History curriculum with independent research opportunities.

As projects were presented at Sacred Heart to a variety of expert judges, Staples’ entries swept numerous categories and showcased their talents.

Junior Winners from BMS Include:

Junior Group Website
First Place: Loving v Virginia
Students: Oliver Clachko, Eli Shorrock, Alex Markus-Malone, and Liam Kelly

Junior Group Exhibit
Second Place: “I am become Death, The Destroyer of Worlds:” Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 Students:
Ishan Prasad, Finnbar Kiely, Peter Moody, Zachary Rybchin & Maxwell Tanksley
Third Place: How the Treaty of Versailles Ended the Great War
Students: Johann Kobetitsch, Lyah Muktavaram, Jason Chiu-Skow & Jordan Chiu-Skow

Junior Individual Exhibit
Second Place: Korean War: A Bitter Conflict and the Tension That Arose
Student: Evan Trock

Junior Individual Performance
First Place: The Newsies Strike of 1899
Student: Thomas Sargent

Senior Winners from Staples Include:

Senior Papers
First Place: Conflict and Compromise of Reconstruction: The Freedmen's Bureau and Compromise
of 1877
Student: Benjamin Schussheim

Senior Group Documentary
Second Place: Salem Witch Trials: How the Small Community of Salem Scapegoated Innocent
Victims
Students: Kelley Schutte, Alexa Frost and Ava Geismann
Third Place: Athlete Protests: How Two Fists Sparked Conflict That Challenged Racial Injustice
Without Compromise
Students: Ethan Frank, Graydon Narang, Max Iannone

Senior Individual Documentary
Second Place: Don't Get Hit: 9/11 and the Expansion of US Intelligence Power
Student: Victor de la Pena

Senior Group Website
First Place: Athletic Social Activism: Exposing Barriers, Promoting Equality, Initiating Change
Students: Brianna Dwyer and Sophia Alfero
Second Place: The Chinese Exclusion Act: Political Conflict With Little Compromise in 1882
Students: Jaden Little, Charlie Steele
Third Place: Nike Missile Sites: the National Security Measure that Sparked Conflict and
Compromise
Students: Kathryn Enquist and Shea Curran

Senior Individual Website
First Place: The New York Draft Riots of 1863: A Compound Conflict Culminating in Chaos without
Victory
Student: Maximus Pace
Second Place: Patsy Mink and Title IX: A Journey of Conflict and Refusal to Compromise Student:
Ava Sholes
Third Place: The Nullification Crisis: A Compromise with the Government after a Voided Tariff by
South Carolina
Student: Philip De Munck

Senior Group Exhibit
First Place: “A Nation that destroys its soil destroy itself”: Defoliants of the Vietnam War Students:
Nick Taubenheim and Aydan Moskowitz

Senior Individual Exhibit
First Place: Iranian Hostage Crisis: The Revolutionaries Refusal to Compromise with America
Student: Emerson Anvari
Second Place: Los Angeles Race Riots of 1992: A City's Conflict and Comprise

Student: Sam Maged
Third Place: Jackie Robinson: His Conflict and Compromise to Succeed in Integrating Baseball
Student: Maise Prince

Senior Individual Performance
Second Place: The Newsboys' Strike of 1899: Conflict & Compromise Makes News
Student: Carly Dwyer

Staples sophomore Emerson Anvari said in a release that the NHD project allowed him “to learn about my family’s history and bridge those lessons with American and Iranian history. It forced me to dig deeply into a subject that I have always know about - but never had a chance to explore.”

“NHD is an incredible opportunity for our students to display their creativity and historical expertise," social studies teacher Nell Lynch said in a release. "I am so proud of the students who are moving on to the next stage of this competition.”

“One thing I love about NHD at Bedford is that student participation is completely voluntary," BMS 8th grade teacher Caroline Davis said in a release. "It truly shows the passion these students have for the NHD experience and history.”

The aforementioned students who placed at the regional level will compete in the Connecticut State History Day competition on Saturday, April 28.

Photo credits: Lisa Marriott