21 HCPSS Students To Compete In National History Day Contest June 11–15

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Twenty-one Howard County Public School System students will advance to the National History Day Competition being held at the University of Maryland, College Park June 11–15.

The students advancing won first or second place at the statewide Maryland History Day Competition, which was held May 6 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

HCPSS swept two categories at the state competition, taking first and second place in both senior individual performance and junior group documentary. Two HCPSS students also were honored with special awards.

This year’s National History Day theme was “Frontiers in History.” Students in 6th through 12th grades conducted research related to the topic, analyzed information, drew conclusions and created a history day project in one of five categories (exhibit, performance, multimedia documentary, research paper or website) to submit for review at the school, county and then state level.

A list of HCPSS students advancing to the national competition is included below. These students have already won competitions at the school and county level and were competing against hundreds of students from school systems across the state. Anne Schaefer, social studies teacher at Bonnie Branch Middle School, also was recognized at the state contest as the Howard County History Day Teacher of the Year.

Senior Group Exhibits

1st Place
Anesthesia: Changing Surgery Forever
Students: Kashvi Mehta, Vidya Suddamalla, and Olivia Warhol
School: Reservoir High School
Teacher: Jan Edlowitz

Senior Individual Documentary

2nd Place
Black Wall Street: The Majestic Story of Wealth in All-Black Towns
Student: Charan Bala
School: River Hill High School
Teacher: Jessica Nichols

Senior Group Documentary

1st Place
Cuneiform: How a Linguistic Innovation Revolutionized the World
Students: Athena Devashish and Julia Shi
School: River Hill High School
Teacher: Callie Casper

Senior Individual Performance

1st Place
Inside the Double Helix: Frontiers in Genetics Based on the Discovery of the Structure of DNA
Student: Annette Horner
School: Howard High School
Teacher: Danelle Brennan

2nd Place
The Stonewall Riots: The Event that Changed Queer Life Forever
Student: River Gleeson
School: Howard High School
Teacher: Leah Foran

Senior Individual Website

2nd Place
First Impressions: The Opening of a New Artistic Horizon in the 19th Century
Student: Cora Wood
School: Long Reach High School
Teacher: Lisa Milak

Junior Individual Exhibit

1st Place
Lewis Hine: Child Labor Activist, Photographer, Inspiration
Student: Eve Tang
School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
Teachers: Anne Schaefer, Hannah Mittel, Kara Nanni

Junior Individual Documentary

2nd Place
Working Women: The Impact of WWII on Gender Equality
Student: Jenna Campbell
School: Clarksville Middle School
Teachers: Beth Ceglia, Catherine Mairs, Margaret Brothman

Junior Group Documentary

1st Place
From Traders to Traitors – The British Framing
Student: Vihaan Jain and Neal Shandilya
School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
Teachers: Anne Schaefer, Hannah Mittel, Kara Nanni

2nd Place
Pathways to Peace: Gandhi’s Influence Through the Ages
Student: Anjali Dalal and Mishka Sanghavi
School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
Teachers: Anne Schaefer, Hannah Mittel, Kara Nanni

Junior Individual Performance

1st Place
The Reincarnation of Freudism: From Psychoanalysis to Psychotherapeutic Practices
Student: Ashlyn Pankow
School: Mayfield Woods Middle School
Teacher: Daniel Stone

Junior Group Performance

2nd Place
The Artificial Heart: Saving Lives with a Man-Made Machine
Students: Tirzah Chan, Jina Choi, Jayde Liu, and Annabelle Wu
School: Clarksville Middle School
Teachers: Catherine Mairs, Jay Farmer, Margaret Brothman

Junior Individual Website

1st Place
Quilombos: The Quest for a Liberated Identity
Student: Solenyi Onwueme
School: Clarksville Middle School
Teachers: Beth Ceglia, Catherine Mairs, Margaret Brothman

Award for Excellence in Labor History, sponsored by Bill Barry and Friends

Hull House: Frontiers in Social Work and Service
Category: Senior Paper
Student: Hannah Ahn
School: Marriotts Ridge High School
Teachers: Christina Costabile, Lynn Rashid

Excellence in White House History, Sponsored by the White House Historical Association

Crossing the Space Frontier: The Race that Led to the Rise and Fall of STEM Education in America
Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
Student: Nafisa Ali
School: Marriotts Ridge High School
Teachers: Christina Costabile, Lynn Rashid

Howard County History Day Teacher of the Year

Anne Schaefer, social studies teacher
Bonnie Branch Middle School