HCPSS Students Advance to 2020 National History Day Competition

May 18th, 2020

After recently winning first or second place at the virtual Statewide Maryland History Day Competition, 17 Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) students will advance to the virtual National History Day Competition, taking place June 14-18, 2020. 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.

In addition to the students who are advancing to nationals, two Howard County students won special awards, and Oakland Mills Middle School Media Specialist Jennifer Hamiliton was honored as Howard County’s History Day Teacher of the Year.

Students presented entries in one of five categories: exhibit, performance, multimedia documentary, research paper and website. The process started at the beginning of the school year as students conducted historical research on a self-selected topic that related to this year’s National History Day theme of Breaking Barriers in History.

For more information on National History Day, visit the National History Day website.

HCPSS Students Advancing to National History Day:
Junior Group Exhibit
Title: Virginia Hall: An Unconventional Woman During Unconventional Times
Students: Lucy Choe, Menna Hassan
School: Burleigh Manor Middle School
Teacher: Geordie Paulus

Title: Clara Barton: Search for Soldiers
Students: Helen Nguyen, Rithma Premarathne
School: Thomas Viaduct Middle School
Teacher: Laura Attridge

Senior Group Exhibit
Title: A Stand for Students: Tinker V. Des Moines
Students: Anna Chalupa, Gitanjali Raghava
School: Howard High School
Teacher: Leah Foran

Junior Individual Exhibit
Title: Elizabeth Blackwell: Breaking Barriers for Women in the Medical Field
Student: Kendall Madison
School: Mayfield Woods Middle School
Teacher: Elizabeth Singleton

Junior Group Performance
Title: The Book that Affected Millions of Hearts
Students: Raji Shah, Samara Rahman
School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
Teacher: Janine Sharbaugh

Senior Individual Performance
Title: New York Times vs. United States: Breaking Barriers in Free Speech
Student: Laura Jia
School: Marriotts Ridge High School
Teacher: Lynn Rashid

Title: Josephine Baker: Civil Rights Activist
Student: Lauren Carr
School: Long Reach High School
Teacher: Lisa Milak

Junior Individual Website
Title: Defeating Odds: Jonas Salk’s Polio Vaccine
Student: Seth Markey
School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
Teacher: Janine Sharbaugh

Senior Individual Website
Title: George Perkins Marsh: Revolutionary Conservationist and Pioneer
Student: Colin Wang
School: Marriotts Ridge High School
Teacher: Lynn Rashid

Title: The Undying Legacy of Henrietta Lacks
Student: Caris Easton
School: Reservoir High School
Teacher: Jan Edlowitz

Junior Group Documentary
Title: The First School for the Deaf
Students: Caitlin Bossie, Haley Ko, Kevin Sisk
School: Lime Kiln Middle School
Teacher: Tracy Ganey

Special Prizes:
The George Washington Leadership Prize, sponsored by George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Title: Breaking into the Modern Economy: Hamilton’s Financial Plan
Category: Junior Individual Performance
Student: Lily Granai
School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
Teacher: Janine Sharbaugh

Special Prize in Legal & Constitutional, sponsored by Cynthia Raposo and Joseph Furey
Title: Roe v. Wade: Breaking Barriers Beyond Abortion Rights
Category: Junior Paper
Student: Molly Ross
School: Mayfield Woods Middle School
Teacher: Kathleen Quinn