Seventeen Northfield Students Head to Minnesota History Day Competition

High spirits and laughter filled the outdoors at Northfield Middle School Thursday morning as 80 sixth-grade students, three teachers and about 20 parent chaperones waited to board buses. 

Some students wielded unruly exhibit boards through bus doors, one chased an errant piece of paper that had blown off his display. Other students looked somewhat nervous as they thought about the lines they needed to recite in less than two hours. Yet, despite the nerves and last-minute exhibit tweaks, above all there was a buzz of excitement as the buses pulled out of the NMS lot.

The students, chosen to move on to regionals at were on their way to Minnesota State University, Mankato, to compete in the South Central Regional History Day competition.

Hours later, 17 students were pegged to move on to the Minnesota History Day competition in May and nine students earned honorable mentions. The History Day projects all related to the same theme: Debate and Diplomacy: Successes, Failures, Consequences.

Two Northfielders heading to state are Bonnie Hoekstra, whose exhibit was the "Hidden Holocaust," and Synneva Bratland, who qualified with her exhibit on Success for the Sámi, a diplomatic fight for equality in Scandinavia.

Brynn Artley and partner Hannah Johnson also move ahead to the state competition after their performance about banned books.

The two thought they had done well—and are excited to advance in the competition after a fun day.

“[The] atmosphere was very good," Brynn said.

Nearly 300 students from nine schools participated in the competition.

Upon arrival at MSU, Northfield students carefully setup their exhibit boards in the ballroom while others found their rooms for the performance competition.

Seventy volunteer judges worked their way through the exhibits or took notes as students performed. At 12:30 p.m., doors to the ballroom closed for the second round of exhibit judging and students had a chance to experience campus life over their lunch hour. Some took a chance to play games in the Centennial Student Union. Others visited the bookstore. Mostly, however, they hung out and had fun while they waited for the awards ceremony to begin.

The ballroom filled up quickly for the awards ceremony with a standing room only crowd.

Naomi Peuse, History Day representative and ceremony emcee, announced the names of those who earned honorable mentions and those who moved on to the state competition. 

On the way home to Northfield, the buses were filled with noise and laughter as the kids congratulated their friends and talked about the day. Whether they moved on to the state competition or not, the overall consensus was, “Regionals was fun!”

It’s likely the students will remember the enjoyment of the day most of all.

But, perhaps, something Peuse said during the awards ceremony will stick with them as well. Though not all of you will receive a prize, she told the kids, “All of us have learned so all of us have succeeded!” 

And that’s a prize in itself.

Students receiving honorable mentions were:

• Jake Thomas: Individual Documentary (Industrial vs. Organic
Agriculture: The Debate of Feeding the World)

• Kayla Hepler, Tyler Hepler, Nicholas Gonermann: Group Documentary
(Cuban Missile Crisis: Diplomatic Efforts to Save the World from Nuclear
War)

• Katlyn Wolf, Gregory Pelletier: Group Documentary (Apollo 11: Debate
on the Space Race)

• Betsy Scheurman, Amalie Christensen, Brooklyn Knight: Group
Performance (The Dred Scott Decision) 

Students advancing to the state level are:

• Laurel Martinson: Individual Exhibit (Roe v Wade)

• Synneva Bratland: Individual Exhibit (Success for the Sami)

• Skye Sonnega: Individual Exhibit (Failure of Diplomacy in Outcome of
Korean War)

• Bonnie Hoekstra: Individual Exhibit (The Hidden Holocaust: Debate
around the Armenian Genocide)

• Cooper Nelson: Individual Exhibit (Separate but not Equal: The Debate of
School Segregation)

• Christof Zweifel and Ellis Ojala: Group Exhibit (The Berlin Wall:
Division, Diplomacy, Democracy)

• Jack Rossmiller and Luke Schewe: Group Exhibit (The Nuremberg Trials)

• Erik Lundstrom: Individual Performance (The Great Communication
Debate: The Pony Express)

• Emma Byhre: Individual Performance (Immigration: The Debate About
Becoming an American)

• Hannah Johnson, Brynn Artley: Group Performance (Banned Books:
Board of Education vs. Pico)

• Amelia Weir, Andrea Thurnheer: Group Performance (Soldiers Without
Guns: A Debate for Women that Ended in Failure and Success)

• Alaina Falck: Individual Documentary (Rights to the Colorado River)

• Natalie Swanson: Individual Documentary (Indian Boarding Schools: The
Debate about Indian Culture)