Sixteen gifted students from Menlo Park Academy won 13 total awards at the National History Day Region 3 competition on March 27.
The school had 29 Grade 7-8 competitors, and swept first, second and third place in the Junior Individual Website, while taking first and second place in the Junior Individual Performance category.
In all, MPA will have 15 students competing at the Ohio History Day state competition on April 24, which will take place virtually. The top two placers in each category at the state level advance to the National Contest, to take place in June 2021.
Mr. Frank O’Grady, a Grade 7-8 history teacher at MPA, is the school advisor for the NHD competition. “We’re proud of the students for their extensive research, their thoughtful presentations, and their accomplishments at the competition,” he said. “Each year Menlo Park Academy has had such a strong showing at the NHD competition, and we did again this year with 16 students (of 29 entries) winning a total of 13 total awards. This is the best performance Menlo Park has had at the NHD Regional in the number of awards and the number of students advancing.”
The theme for the National History Day competition was “Communication in History.” The theme frames student research projects, and is chosen based on its broad application to world, national, or state history and its relevance to ancient history or to the more recent past.
National History Day is a non-profit education organization based in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1974, NHD offers year-long academic programs that engage more than a half-million middle- and high-school students around the world annually in project research and presentation. Since 1974, NHD has sought to improve history education in schools.
Among the awards for Menlo Park Academy at National History Day:
Junior Group Exhibit
Lee Somerville and Danka Wentzel, Second Place, for Navajo Code Talkers
Jaydon Hallis and Brandon Eardley, Honorable Mention, Operation Mincemeat
Junior Individual Exhibit
Cehan Ahmad, Second Place, The Ghost Army: Communication and Deception by the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops
Sarah Weaver, Honorable Mention, Seneca Falls: First Women’s Rights Convention 1848
Anna Oestreich, Honorable Mention, Homing Pigeons: Military Messengers During the Great War
Junior Group Performance
Shashini Mohan, Nakshatra Mohan, and Atidya Mohan, Honorable Mention, The Words of Gandhi
Junior Individual Performance
Jackson Kenny, First Place, The Story of FDR’s Fireside Chats, as told by “Deputy President” Harry Hopkins
Madeleine Suma, Second Place, How the Diary of Anne Frank Changed the World
Junior Individual Website
Dae San Kim, First Place, FDR’s Fireside Chats
Benjamin Hewitt, Second Place, The Enigma Machine
Ethan Chen, Third Place, President Reagan’s Speech: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall!”
Special Prize Winners
Friends of the Maltz Museum Special Prize in Jewish History
Madeleine Suma, Third Place, How the Diary of Anne Frank Changed the World
Sons of the American Revolution Patriotism Award
Faith Armstrong, Honorable Mention, Sybil Ludington (Revolutionary Heroine)