How do farmers, “The King of Coal,” the Art Impressionist Movement, the Alamo, the Stonewall Riots, Rosie the Riveter, and Ella Fitzgerald relate to each other?

They were all topics that could be found at the local National History Day (NHD) Competition that was held on Saturday, February 4. Topics in the competition had to fit into the theme “Taking a Stand in History.”

According to the NHD website, “National History Day is a year-long academic program focused on historical research, interpretation and creative expression for 6th- to 12th-grade students.”

Many students participated in the competition in categories ranging from documentary to exhibit to paper to performance to website.  The exhibit category was the most prevalent participated in category with the widest variety of topics represented.

Junior Olivia Gorak-Lacquement presented a project concerning The Impressionist Art Movement.  Her advice to future NHD participants was “Don’t procrastinate, find a topic that you love and you’ll have a lot of fun.”

NHD projects can take months of preparation full of endless hours of research and design. For example, those in the performance category have to write their own scenes that are historically accurate as well as entertaining.

Social Studies Program Chair Kevin Wagner had similar advice.

“The key to most of the successful projects is to think about a topic that you typically don’t see in the text book or things that you can’t find online with a quick search,” said Wagner.

First, second, and third place winners in each category move on to the next level, the regional level, which encompasses winners from Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, and Adams counties.

Wagner said, “Our region is known as one of the harder ones to get through.”

First, second, and third place winners at the regional level will move onto the state level competition, which is typically held at Millersville University.  That encompasses students from the whole state.  First and second place winners will move on to the national level.

Local History Day High School Winners

Senior Individual Performance:

1st place: Ava Wendelken

2nd place: Caleigh Michnowitz

3rd place: Daija Berry

3rd place: Fizna Shabbir

Senior Individual Exhibit:

1st place: Joseph Dimino

2nd place: Emma Gilliam

3rd place: Jackson Davis

3rd place: Olivia Gorak-Lacquement

Senior Individual Media:

2nd place: Dominic Carozza

2nd place: Cassandra Greer

Senior Individual Website:

1st place: Samantha Martin

2nd place: Harrison Wendelken

3rd place: Hannah Seats

3rd place: Drew Gable

Senior Historical Paper:

1st place: Stephen Elder

2nd place: Hannah Duncan

3rd place: Jacob Compton

3rd place: William Mosinski

Senior Group Performance:

1st place: Brianna Murray & Emily Gally

2nd place: Emma Stone & Micha Webb

3rd place: Stephanie Crean & Alex Dyson

3rd place: Abigail Sullivan & Kristina Kaufman

Senior Group Media:

1st place: Jacob Morris, Max Haseman & Trent Balestri

2nd place: Hannah Frick & Madison Green

3rd place: Ethan Schoenfield & Josh Abbas

Senior Group Website:

1st place: Bethany Hanak & Madison Stewart

2nd place: Aaron Brewbaker & Nick Brewbaker

3rd place: Matthew Hoss & John Foster

Senior Group Exhibit:

1st place: Tali Carlton & Katherine Stockton-Juarez

2nd place: Riley Perry & Lyra Carlton

3rd place: Vivian Matallana, Sophia Getty & Bella Byus