Thanks to all who competed in History Day on March 9, 2019, on the campus of Western Michigan University.
2020 Competition
Next competition date : March 7, 2020
2019 Recap
National History Day Place Winner 2019
Georgia Edmonds of Gagie School in Kalamazoo, sponsor Joe Meyers, received the Junior Division Outstanding Affiliate Award, designating her as best-in-state, for her individual exhibit entry, “The Radium Girls: The Luminous Triumph and the Dark Tragedy of Radium.” Edmonds placed fifth in the nation for the Junior Division Individual Exhibit category.
Below are the 2019 State Qualifiers (State results are in bold)
Papers
Youth
None
Junior
1. "Half-measures, Hypocrisies, and Hopes of Desegregated Kalamazoo Schools" (Best entry in African American History)
by McLevy Strong-Morse, Maple Street Middle School/Home School
2. "Frances Perkins: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the first female Cabinet Member"
by Hailey Prater, Kazoo School
3. "The Storming of the Bastille: French Revolution"
by Rhys Conybeare, Upton Middle School
Senior
1. "Jamestown"
by Sara DeSmet, Marshall High School
Documentaries
Youth/Individual
1. "Triumph and Tragedy in the Life of Jesse Owens" (2nd Place)
by Jake Gagie, Gagie School
2. "The Attack on Pearl Harbor" (1st Place)
by Parker Hosner, Kazoo School
3. "Penicillin:Good Drug or Bad?"
by Cambrie Bencik, Gagie School
Youth/Group
1. "Not a Life Lost: The Triumph and Tragedy of Ernest Shackleton" (1st Place)
by Oliver Anderson, Ian Wesselhoff and Hendrix Tapper, Gagie School
2. "1906 Disaster: The San Francisco Earthquake and Fires" (3rd Place)
by Ezra Ambs and Leah Smith, Gagie School
3. "Failure to Launch: Apollo 1" (2nd Place)
by August Zoet and Jacob Kaczmarek, North Shore Elementary
Junior/Individual
1. "The Little Rock School Crisis of 1957"
by Eliza Kuhlman, Upton Middle School
2. "The Evacuation of Children from London during WWII" (National Alternate)
by Scarlett Hindbaugh, Gagie School
3. "The Angel of the Warsaw Ghetto"
by Tabitha Newberry, Baseline Middle School
Junior/Group
1. "Crista McAuliffe and the Challenger" (National Finalist)
by Ava Stortebook and Mya Panse, Gagie School
2. " A Successful Failure: The Mission of Apollo 13"
by Sydney Daugherty, Savina Liotine, Isabelle Schrauben and Sydney Cato, Lake Michigan Catholic
3. "Wilma Rudolph: Polio Survivor to Olympic Medalist"
by Violet Kaplan-Neumann, Alexis Crouch and Ellie Reeves, Gagie School
Senior/Individual
1. "Operation Frequent Wind: Triumph and Tragedy in the Fall of Saigon" (National Alternate)
by Samuel Niewenhuis, Providence Christian School
Senior/Group
1. "Final Voyage: the U.S.S. Indianapolis" (Best entry in Naval or Maritime History)
by Jessee Ford and Maddox Uckele, South Haven High School
2. "The Triumph and Tragedy of Muhammed Ali"
by Alex Wood and Luke Iddings, Lakeshore High School
Performances
Youth/Individual
1. "The Triumph and Tragedy of the Transcontinental Railroad" (1st Place)
by Sam Gagie, Gagie School
2. "The Life of Marie Curie" (2nd Place)
by Tori Smith, Gagie School
Youth/Group
1. "Sacagawea's Life of Triumph and Tragedy" (1st Place)
by Ruby Peterson, London Pirsein, Kaitlin Moore and Adelynn Beery, North Shore Elementary
Junior/Individual
1. "Pain, Profits, and People: A Prescription for Unspeakable Tragedy and Unthinkable Triumph" (National Alternate)
by Koa Suarez, Kazoo School
2. "Triumph and Tragedy of P. T. Barnum and the Circus"
by Lauren Shaman, Gagie School
3. " Beethoven"
by Madeline Upgalde, Upton Middle School
Junior/Group
1. "The Black Death: The Tragedy That Opened the Door or Humankind to Triumph" (National Finalist)
by Elle Ahrens and Sloan Markin, Gagie School
2. "Triumph and Tragedy of the Titanic" (National Alternate)
by Amanda Piel, Lindsey Piel, Lauren Pernie and Megan Frederickson, Gagie School
Senior/Individual
1. "Nellie Bly: Ahead of her Time, Forgotten in the Papers" (National Finalist)
by Avery Daugherty
Senior/Group
None
Exhibits
Youth/Individual
1. "Amelia Earhart" (2nd Place)
by Ollie Rozell, Gordon Elementary
2. "Isadora Duncan: Triumph in a Life of Tragedy"
by Alice Harn, Gagie School
3. "The Irish Potato Famine and Immigration to the United States" (Best entry in Use of Family History)
by Raya Dunn, Gordon Elementary
Youth/Group
1. "Besse Coleman: The First Queen of Aviation" (2nd Place)
by Masha Canfield, Anniken Holm and Paisley Wall Emerson, Parkwood Upjohn Elementary
2. "Hedy Lamarr: A Double Life"
by Khole Felton and Charli Clark, Gagie School
3. "Tragedy in Salem"
by Morgan Baker, Grace Johnson and Kate Gensch, Gordon Elementary School
Junior/Individual
1. "We Choose to go to the Moon"
by Haley Shears, Upton Middle School
2. "The Radium Girls Luminous Triumph and Dark Tragedy of Radium" (National Finalist)
by Georgia Edmonds, Gagie School
3. " An Gorta Mor: The Triumph that Resulted from Ireland's Greatest Tragedy" (National Alternate)
by Keegan Hammond, Gagie School
Junior/Group
1. "Mary Seacole, Heroine of the Crimean War"
by Ginny Weykamp and Nick Pierangeli, Upton Middle School
2. "Sexualization, Influence, and Body Image: Women in Advertising through the Years"
by Rachael Casky and Vivian Marshall, Kazoo School
3. "The Great Boston Molasses Flood"
by Phoebe Champion and Andrew Ferrell, Upton Middle School
Senior/Individual
1. "The Freedman's Bureau" (National Finalist)
by Chole Simmons, Lake Michigan Catholic
2. "Women's Birth Control: From Tragedy to Triumph"
by Carley Wyman, Gull Lake High School
Senior/Group
1. "Cleopatra: Lost to the Sands of Time"
by Clara Smith and Haley Hoehle, Kalamazoo Central High School
2. "The Salem Witch Trials"
by Zoe Wogoman, Gavin Conley, Claire Houtman and Elijiah Fenstermaker, Heritage Christian Academy
3. "Triumph Lost In Flames: The Sultana Tragedy" (National Finalist)
by Nick Sheppard and Myles Daugherty, South Haven High School
Websites
Youth/Individual
1. "Commerce and Casualties in Cadillac's City: The Early Days of Ft. Detroit" (2nd Place)
by Thomas Shockey, Kazoo School
2. "Wilma Rudolph: Racing Her Way through Tragedies"
by Laksh Singh, Gagie School
3. "The Hindenburg" (1st Place)
by Georgie McDougal, Gagie School
Youth/Group
1. "Polio Pioneers" (2nd Place)
by Kalan Ashby-Wade and Eleanor Tomacari, Kazoo School
2. "In the Days of Gold: Triumph and Tragedy" (1st Place)
by Gabriel Feffer, Joshua Lent and Carmine Saracina, Kazoo School
3. "Harry Houdini: Triumph and Tragedy" (3rd Place)
by Austin Cohrs, Ian Micallif and Zachary Shaman, Gagie School
Junior/Individual
1. "Apollo 13: The Crisis in Spance"
by Kara Kerwin, Gagie School
2. "LZ-129 Hindenburg: Oh the Humanity!"
by Zara Pirbhai, Gagie School
3. The Freedom Riders" (National Alternate)
by Aseem Sivgh, Upton Middle School
Junior/Group
1. Allison Cato and Hazel Hysell, Lake Michigan Catholic
2. "Navajo Code Talker" (National Finalist)
by Emma Jeng and Jintong He, Upton Middle School
3. "The History of the Atom Bomb"
by Mason Ray and Veer Singh, Gagie School
Senior/Individual
1. "The Initial Triumphs of Agent Orange and the Disastrous Tragedies that Followed"
by Jaclyn Cook, St. Joseph High School
2. "The Polio Vaccine: Triumph over a Devastating Disease" (National Finalist)
by Lauren Konopacki, St. Joseph High School
3. " Stephen Hawking"
by Casey Murray, Galesburg Augusta High School
Senior/Group
1. " The Tragedy and Triumph of Malala" (National Finalist)
by Elena Taylor and Olivia Calnin, Heritage Cristian Academy
2. "Booth Brotherly Brawl"
by Katlyn Stemm, Sanjana Kona and Tatiana Beran, Lakeshore High School
3. "Learning from the Infamous, 1918 Spanish Influenza"
by Sophie Marcus and Leah VanBrugge, Providence Christian School
Best Use of Primary Source: Sponsored by the WMU Legacy Center
Youth: "Buried Beneath the Sand: The Forgotten Town of Singapore, Michigan" by: Max Verseput and Issac Chalpa, North Shore Elementary
Junior:"The Radium Girls: Luminous Triumph and Dark Tragedy of Radium" by: Georgia Edmonds, Gagie School
Senior: "The Salem Witch Trials" by: Zoe Wogoman, Gavin Conley, Claire Houtman and Elijah Fenstermaker, Heritage Christian Academy
Best Entry on the Civil War Era: sponsored by the Civil War Roundtable
"Triumph Lost in Flames: The Sultana Tragedy" by Nick Sheppard and Myles Daugherty, South Haven High School