The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) was proud to send 58 Hoosier students to compete in the Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest, which took place last week at University of Maryland. Indiana was well represented, with several students placing well and earning special awards for their presentations.
The Indiana delegation also made the most of their experience in Washington D.C., including a meeting with Senator Joe Donnelly, whose children are past participants in the National History Day program. Students also broke into smaller groups to meet with their Congressional representatives, including Susan Brooks, Luke Messer and Todd Rokita.
National History Day in Indiana is a year-long program dedicated to enhancing history education in elementary and secondary schools. Students in grades four through 12 explore a historical subject and then use their research to create imaginative exhibits, original performances, media documentaries, Web sites and papers. The 2015 theme is “Leadership and Legacy in History.”
National History Day in Indiana has been organized by the Indiana Historical Society for more than a decade and has played an active part in Indiana’s schools across for more than 25 years, with more than 5,000 Indiana students taking part annually.
Finalists, Special Award winners and special experience participants from Indiana included:
- Silver Medalist (second place), Junior Group Documentary—Julia Oostema and Cate Peerbolte, Highland Christian School (Highland); “Marie Curie: Impacting Science through Radioactivity”
- Fifth place, Senior Group Exhibit, and Indiana Outstanding Entry, Senior Division—Elizabeth Schafer and Megan Bullock, Central Catholic Jr./Sr. High School; “Alice Hamilton: The First Lady of Industrial Medicine”
- 14th place,Senior Individual Exhibit—Bailey Ward, Carmel High School (Carmel); “The Philosopher in Purple: The Leadership and Legacy of Marcus Aurelius”
- Indiana Outstanding Entry, Junior Division—Mikhalla Glick & Faith Quintana, John Young Middle School (Mishawaka); “Lewis Hine: “Leading a Change in Child Labor Laws” (Junior Group Website)
- Salute to Courage Award Winner (Special Award)—Alyssa O’Neill, O’Neill Homeschool (Borden); Senior Individual Performance, “George Rogers Clark: Hero of the Northwest Territory”
- Special Experience—Sitha Vallabhaneni and Caitlin Harshberger of Carmel High School (Carmel) displayed their Senior Group Exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History on Wednesday.
- Special Experience—Elisabeth Huls of Brown County High School (Nashville), who competed in the Senior Paper category, took part in National Endowment for the Humanities’ Breakfast on the Hill event.
SOURCE: Indiana Historical Society