HCPSSHCPSS Students Advance to National History Day Competition
May 15th, 2023
Twenty-one Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) students will advance to the National History Day Competition being held at the University of Maryland, College Park from June 11–15. The students advancing won first or second place at the statewide Maryland History Day Competition, held on May 6 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
HCPSS swept two categories at the state competition, taking first and second place in both Senior Individual Performance and Junior Group Documentary. Two HCPSS students were also honored with special awards.
This year’s National History Day theme was “Frontiers in History.” Students in grades 6–12 conducted research related to the topic, analyzed information, drew conclusions, and created a History Day project in one of five categories (exhibit, performance, multimedia documentary, research paper, or website) to submit for review at the school, county, and then state level.
A list of HCPSS students advancing to the national competition is included below. These students have already won competitions at the school and county level and were competing against hundreds of students from school systems across the state. Anne Schaefer, Social Studies Teacher at Bonnie Branch Middle School, was also recognized at the state contest as the Howard County History Day Teacher of the Year.
Program Category Winners
Senior Group Exhibits
1st Place
Anesthesia: Changing Surgery Forever
Students: Kashvi Mehta, Vidya Suddamalla, and Olivia Warhol
School: Reservoir High School
Teacher: Jan Edlowitz
Senior Individual Documentary
2nd Place
Black Wall Street: The Majestic Story of Wealth in All-Black Towns
Student: Charan Bala
School: River Hill High School
Teacher: Jessica Nichols
Senior Group Documentary
1st Place
Cuneiform: How a Linguistic Innovation Revolutionized the World
Students: Athena Devashish and Julia Shi
School: River Hill High School
Teacher: Callie Casper
Senior Individual Performance
1st Place
Inside the Double Helix: Frontiers in Genetics Based on the Discovery of the Structure of DNA
Student: Annette Horner
School: Howard High School
Teacher: Danelle Brennan
2nd Place
The Stonewall Riots: The Event that Changed Queer Life Forever
Student: River Gleeson
School: Howard High School
Teacher: Leah Foran
Senior Individual Website
2nd Place
First Impressions: The Opening of a New Artistic Horizon in the 19th Century
Student: Cora Wood
School: Long Reach High School
Teacher: Lisa Milak
Junior Individual Exhibit
1st Place
Lewis Hine: Child Labor Activist, Photographer, Inspiration
Student: Eve Tang
School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
Teachers: Anne Schaefer, Hannah Mittel, Kara Nanni
Junior Individual Documentary
2nd Place
Working Women: The Impact of WWII on Gender Equality
Student: Jenna Campbell
School: Clarksville Middle School
Teachers: Beth Ceglia, Catherine Mairs, Margaret Brothman
Junior Group Documentary
1st Place
From Traders to Traitors – The British Framing
Student: Vihaan Jain and Neal Shandilya
School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
Teachers: Anne Schaefer, Hannah Mittel, Kara Nanni
2nd Place
Pathways to Peace: Gandhi’s Influence Through the Ages
Student: Anjali Dalal and Mishka Sanghavi
School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
Teachers: Anne Schaefer, Hannah Mittel, Kara Nanni
Junior Individual Performance
1st Place
The Reincarnation of Freudism: From Psychoanalysis to Psychotherapeutic Practices
Student: Ashlyn Pankow
School: Mayfield Woods Middle School
Teacher: Daniel Stone
Junior Group Performance
2nd Place
The Artificial Heart: Saving Lives with a Man-Made Machine
Students: Tirzah Chan, Jina Choi, Jayde Liu, and Annabelle Wu
School: Clarksville Middle School
Teachers: Catherine Mairs, Jay Farmer, Margaret Brothman
Junior Individual Website
1st Place
Quilombos: The Quest for a Liberated Identity
Student: Solenyi Onwueme
School: Clarksville Middle School
Teachers: Beth Ceglia, Catherine Mairs, Margaret Brothman
Special Award Winners
Award for Excellence in Labor History, sponsored by Bill Barry and Friends
Hull House: Frontiers in Social Work and Service
Category: Senior Paper
Student: Hannah Ahn
School: Marriotts Ridge High School
Teachers: Christina Costabile, Lynn Rashid
Excellence in White House History, Sponsored by the White House Historical Association
Crossing the Space Frontier: The Race that Led to the Rise and Fall of STEM Education in America
Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
Student: Nafisa Ali
School: Marriotts Ridge High School
Teachers: Christina Costabile, Lynn Rashid
Howard County History Day Teacher of the Year
Anne Schaefer, Social Studies Teacher
Bonnie Branch Middle School