2021 Theme: Communication in History
Five Top 10 Awards to District 6 Students at the National History Day Contest
A total of five entries from Michigan’s District 6 finished in the top 10 at the National History Day contest this summer. The 2021 contest was held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This is the best finish ever for individuals and groups from District 6, sponsored by WMU’s History Department. The theme of this year’s History Day contest was “Communication in History.”
District 6 national place winners were led by one of the very few first-place finishes from Michigan in recent years. Georgia Edmonds, an 8th grade student from the Gagie School in Kalamazoo, took first place in the Junior Individual Exhibit category. Georgia’s winning entry title was “The ‘Book Women’: Communicating Literacy and the Love for Books to Those Isolated by Poverty and the Appalachian Mountains.”
Myles Daugherty and Nic Sheppard from South Haven High School finished in 6th place in the Senior Group Exhibit category. Their entry title was “Lincoln on the Front Line.” Myles and Nic also finished in the top 10 at the national contest in 2020.
Four students from Lake Michigan Catholic Middle School in St. Joseph—Lila Baliunas, Hannah Hysell, Josephine Marsh, and Mary Riley—took 8th place in the Junior Group Performance category. Their entry was titled “Arts as Propaganda: Communism Meeting Democracy Through the 20th Century.” The group also received the Junior Division Outstanding Affiliate Award, designating them as best in state.
Four students from the Gagie School in Kalamazoo—Jordynn Dolbee, Paul Rzepka, Olivia Storteboom, and Reese Storteboom—finished in 8th place in the Junior Group Documentary category. Their entry was titled “Communication and Its Effects on the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
Five students from Providence Christian School in Kalamazoo—Emma Bakker, Connor DeVries, Hailey DeVries, Ethan Schipper, and Cali VanDyke—placed 9th in the Junior Group Website category. Their entry was titled “Jacob Riis: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.”
A total of 32 students from District 6 competed in the national contest this year. Congratulations to all the students. The 2022 District 6 History Day contest will take place at WMU on Saturday, March 12.
Below are the District 6 2021 State qualifiers (State competition results are in bold).
Documentary
Youth Group
- "The Women’s Suffrage Movement: How Communication was Key to Win the Vote" by Navya Bobba, Taylor Dolbee, and Caitlin Vandermolen, The Gagie School (1st Place) (The Elly Peterson Awards for Michigan Women's History)
- "Winged Soldiers" by Brayden Williams and Carson Meachum, North Shore Elementary School (2nd Place)
- "The Story of Ella Baker : Activist and Humor Rights Defender" by Kiersten Chalupa and Jocelyn Dubbink, North Shore Elementary School (3rd Place) (Best Entry in Use of Primary Sources) (Best Entry in African American History)
Junior Individual
- "Hitlers Son's of Duty" by Isaac Chalupa, Baseline Middle School
- "How Mr. Rogers Used The Television to Influence America" by Thomas Cullen, Lake Michigan Catholic Middle School
- "Nancy Wake: Secret Communications in World War II" by Leah Smith, The Gagie School
Junior Group
- "Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony: Communicating Hope to Leningrad and the World" by Oliver Anderson, Samuel Edmonds, and Ian Wesselhoff, The Gagie School (National Finalist)
- "Bert Gordy: Communicating Through Motown Music" by Mya Panse, Elizabeth Rzepka, and Ave Storteboom, The Gagie School (National Alternate)
- "Communication and its Effects on the Cuban Missile Crisis" by Jordynn Dolbee, Paul Rzepka, Olivia Storteboom, and Reese Storteboom, The Gagie School (National Finalist)
Senior individual
- "Eunice Carter; Communication Through the Courtroom" by Tabitha Newberry, South Haven High School (Best entry in African American History)
- "The Korean Identity" by Jong Hyuk Park, Lake Michigan Catholic High School
Senior Group
- "Track to Trenches - Communicating at the Speed of an Olympic Medalist" by Avery Daugherty and Jessee Ford, South Haven History Club (National Finalist) (Best Entry in Use of Family History)
- "Communication in History: The Battle of Gettysburg - The Turning Point in American History" by Elijah Fenstermaker and Ezekiel Fenstermaker, Heritage Christian Academy
Exhibit
Youth Group
- "Victor Hugo Green: Changing African Americans' Way of Traveling" by Esther Barrett and Sylvie Graziano, The Gagie School
- "Cracking the Code: The Battle of Midway" by Bodie Bencik and Malek Elshaarawy, The Gagie School (2nd Place) (Best Entry in Naval or Maritime History)
Junior Individual
- "The “Book Women”: Communicating Literacy and the Love for Books to those Isolated by Poverty and the Appalachian Mountains" by Georgia Edmonds, The Gagie School (National Finalist)
- "The Fireside Chats of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Communicating to a Nation in Crisis" by Elliott Anderson, The Gagie School (National Finalist)
Junior Group
- "Titanic: When Miscommunication Becomes Deadly" by Charli Clark and Khloe Felton, The Gagie School
Senior Individual
- "The Key to Understanding Dr. Seuss: Communicating through Stories and Illustrations" by Isabella Dacoba, Portage Northern High School (National Alternate)
Senior Group
- "S.O.E." by Madeline Houtman, Molly Kramer, Zoe Wogoman, and Anja Yoshikawa, Heritage Christian Academy (National Alternate)
- "Lincoln on the Front-line" by Myles Daugherty and Nic Sheppard, South Haven High School (National Finalist) (Best Entry in Use of Newspapers)
- "Reign of the Pirate Queen" by Maren Barfuss and Virginia Weykamp, St. Joseph High School (Best Entry in Naval or Maritime History)
Paper
Youth
- "Sightless Reading: A Brief History of Louis Braille and the Braille Reading System" by Aaron Joaquin Crider, South Haven History Club (1st Place)
Junior
- "The Telegraph; The Unseen Battalion of the Civil War" by Heath Kleyn, Providence Christian School
- "Navajo Code Talkers: Key to the Unbreakable Code" by Jason Dingemans, Providence Christian School
- "Every Vote Counts: The Communication Between African Americans and the Congress for the Voting Rights Act of 1965" by Lily Wielens, Lake Michigan Catholic Middle School
Senior
- "The Olive Branch Petition; Extending Understanding" by Amelia Lewis, Lake Michigan Catholic High School
- "The Mongol Kurultai of 1246: How An Advanced Courier Service Determined The Election of the Great Khan" by McLevy Strong-Morse, Loy Norrix High School
performance
Youth Individual
- "John Chapman and the Birth of American Journalism" by Koben Panse, The Gagie School (1st Place) (Best Entry in Use of Newspapers)
- "The Life of Susan B. Anthony" by Victoria Moody, North Shore Elementary School (2nd Place)
Junior Individual
- "Kalpana Chawla: Communication in Space" by Ishwari Bhatt, The Gagie School (National Finalist)
- "Shostakovich: Communicating Hope and a Silent Rebellion" by Braden Miesse, Upton Middle School
- "The Riveters: Communicating Equality and Perseverance thru Rosie the Riveter" by Ruby Peterson, Baseline Middle School (National Alternate) (Best Entry in Use of Family History)
Junior Group
- "Arts as Propaganda: Communism Meeting Democracy through the 20th Century" by Lila Baliunas, Hannah Hysell, Josephine Marsh, and Mary Riley, Lake Michigan Catholic Middle School (National Finalist) (Best Entry in Use of Newspapers)
- "The Great Debates: Lincoln and Douglas" by Roan Borton, Andrew Curvelo, and Peter Drelles, The Gagie School (National Finalist)
Senior Individual
- "An Exposition on Martha Graham: Protesting through Dance" by Gracie Burnham, Heritage Christian Academy
website
Youth Individual
- "Video Killed the Radio Star?" by Lucila Drelles, The Gagie School (First Place)
Junior Individual
- "Diego Rivera: Expression of the American Dream" by Carmine Saracina, The Kazoo School
- "How One Story Changed the Way We Think" by Ellie Reeves, The Gagie School
- "Ill Communication: Shame and Suffering in the 1918 Pandemic" by Gabriel Feffer, The Kazoo School (National Finalist)
Junior Group
- "Fireside Chats: Communication in the Great Depression" by Mina Boekestein, Austin Christian, Marianne DeVries, Troy Dingemans, and Lydia Nieuwenhuis, Providence Christian School (National Finalist)
- "WWII Propaganda Posters: Communication at a Glance" by James Balkema, Weston Ekema, Katelyn Kwekel, and Zach Schipper, Providence Christian School (National Alternate)
- "Jacob Riis: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words" by Emma Bakker, Connor DeVries, Hailey DeVries, Ethen Schipper, and Cali VanDyke, Providence Christian School (National Finalist) (Best Entry in Use of Primary Sources)
Senior Individual
- "Braille; the Road to Equal Opportunity" by Isabella Schrauben, Lake Michigan Catholic High School
- "The Tenerife Plane Disaster" by Hazel Hysell, Lake Michigan Catholic High School
- "The Evolution of the United States Postal Service" by Ashley Barker, Heritage Christian Academy
Senior Group
- "The Pony Express" by Carter Barker and Josh Beck, Heritage Christian Academy