District 5 Regional History Day

This year's Virginia District 5 George Washington Leadership Prize was awarded to Madhurya Ratnakar and Abigail Wied for "Washington's Successful Risk."  This Junior Group Exhibit highlighted Washington's success in smallpox inoculation during the American Revolution, and the lasting effects this policy has had on military medical strategy since.

2013 History Day: Turning Points in History:  People, Ideas, Events

Virginia District Five Competition
March 2, 2013
Mount Vernon High School

This year, the District Five competition was hosted by George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate, Museum, and Gardens; Gadsby’s Tavern Museum; The National Museum of the Marine Corps; and Fairfax County Public Schools.

District 5 included students from the following counties/cities: Arlington, Loudoun, Fairfax, Prince William, Fauquier, Westmoreland, Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George, Caroline, Northumberland, Richmond (County), Lancaster, Alexandria, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park.  For all others, please visit www.nhd.org for more information about your local competition. 

SPECIAL PRIZES

State Competition: April 20, 2013
The top two entries in each division from the District 5 competition will continue to the State Competition, hosted by Colonial Williamsburg on April 20, 2013.  For more information about the State Competition please visit www.history.org/history/teaching/vahisday.cfm.

This Year's Winners

Senior Individual Website
1st Place - Gabriella Milef, Edward Jenner: The Slayer of the Speckled Monster, West Springfield High School
2nd Place - Adriel Sumathipala, The Great American Experiment: The Immigration Act of 1965, Broad Run High School
3rd Place - Leilani Wolf, Latitude 38 N: The Korean War, the DMZ, and North Korea, Wakefield School 
Junior Individual Website
1st Place - Nathaniel Romanowski, A Turning of War Biltzkrieg in the Battle of France, Phillip Michael Pennington School
2nd Place - Kira Pomeranz, The Book that Started the Civil War? Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ideas about Slavery, George Washington Middle School 2
3rd Place - Morgan Abdo, Penicillin: The Miracle Drug, Loudoun Country Day School
Senior Group Website
1st Place - Ben Cohen, Arijeet Sensharma, & Jarman Taylor, Lorenzo De'Medici: Father of the Renaissance, George Mason High
2nd Place - Victoria Brightwell, Diego Castro, Roncs Etame-Ese, The Assassination of JFK: Enhacement of Presidential Security, Mount Vernon High School
3rd Place - Virginia Thrasher & Christine Wittich, The Bombing of Pearl Harbor: A Day That Will Live in Infamy, West Springfield High School
Senior Group Website
1st Place - Mary Klemic & Annette Schlitt, Ford: Model T, Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
2nd Place - Sam Case & Ryan Whiteley, A Dire Decision,  Phillip Michael Pennington School
3rd Place - Justin Lee & Alec Sudol, The California Gold Rush: Opening Doors for Chinese Immigration, Lorton Station Elementary
Senior Group Documentary
1st Place - Alanna Peterson & Emily Williams, When China Lost the Seas,  Lake Braddock High School
2nd Place - Amy Venden Berghe, Briana Bittner, & Brett Bowker, Nikola Tesla, West Springfield High School
3rd Place - Kathleen Brown & Elizabeth Dipert, Walt Disney: The Man Behind the Happiest Place on Earth, West Spingfield High School
Junior Group Documentary
1st Place - Daniel Eisert & Jack Harrington, The Great Depression: The Event That Changed America, Loudoun Country Day School
2nd Place - Caroline Knutson & Maddie Korkowski, The Great Depression: America Turns Left,  Loudoun Country Day School
3rd Place - Corey Owen & Zack Wilson, Ben Franklin,  Lorton Station Elementary
Senior Individual Documentary
1st Place - Flannery Jamison, The Great Schism, James Madison High School
2nd Place - Dara Webb, The Great Sioux War, Mount Vernon High School
3rd Place - Danny Oeland, Television, Trinity Christian School
Junior Individual Documentary
1st Place - Jude Bedessem, Sputnik to Apollo 11, Lorton Station Elementary
2nd Place - Jackson DuPont, Closer to the Brink: The Submarines of the Sargasso Sea, George Washington Middle School 2
3rd Place - Giomar Burgos-Rosario, Jackie Robinson First African-American Baseball Player, Walt Whitman Middle School
Senior Group Exhibit
1st Place - Lauren Catington & Meghan Holub, The Great Fire of London, 1666, West Springfield High School
2nd Place - Maddie Dale and Evy Edens, The Day of 911, Wakefield School
3rd Place - Webster Bray and John Camarella, How The Barcode Changed The World, West Springfield High School
Junior Group Exhibit
1st Place - Adwoa Ankuma, Grace Johnson, Meghan Murphy & Meredith Johnson, Title 9, Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
2nd Place - Grace Bower and Emma Hathaway, "This is No Drill" - The Assault on Pearl Harbor, George Washington Middle School 2
3rd Place - Navya Annapareddy & Vince Khochareun, Struggle Towards Freedom, Philip Michael Pennington School
Senior Individual Exhibit
1st Place - Brianna Ragland, Black Panther Movement, Mount Vernon High School
2nd Place - Ashley Barrow, Arthur Ashe, Mount Vernon High School
3rd Place - Joshua Corvelli, Okinawa, Trinity Christian School
Junior Individual Exhibit
1st Place - Isabella Posey, Baby of the Century, Phillip Michael Pennington School
2nd Place - Charles Nelson, A Strike Back, Phillip Michael Pennington School
3rd Place - Autumn Edson, Silent Spring, Rodney Thompson Middle School
Junior Group Performance
1st Place - Kaitlyn Bruno, Angela Dilao, & Olivia Taliaferro, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory,  Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
2nd Place - Grace Steenstra, Mary Sullivan, Abigail Warden, & Aidan White, Berlin Wall, George Washington Middle School 2
3rd Place - Katie Harroun & Lara Mitchell, Helen Keller, Walt Whitman Middle School
Senior Individual Performance
1st Place - Grayce Angle, The Change from the Classical to the Romantic Periods, West Springfield High School
2nd Place - Charlotte Heffelmire, Chamberlain Saved the World from Hitler & Nazi Domination, McLean High
Junior Individual Performance
1st Place - Tyler Parowski, The Final Shot of the Civil War,  Phillip Michael Pennington School
2nd Place - Hassan Osman, The Bloody Massacre, Lorton Station Elementary
3rd Place - Anna DuBro, Nuremberg Trials, George Mason High
Senior Historical Paper
1st Place - Margaret Veldman, A Hand of Bones: The Chance Discovery That Revolutionized Medicine, Trinity Christian School
2nd Place - Sarah McCleskey, Challenge of the Age: The Nuclear Weapon, Trinity Christian School
3rd Place - Maggie Snow, The Aids Epidemic of 1981, West Springfield High School
Junior Historical Paper
1st Place - Jimmy Ferguson, Nicolaus Copernicus and the Copernican Revolution: Placing the Sun at the Center of the Universe, George Mason High
2nd Place - Carmen Stuart, Ghandi: The Man Who Modeled Peace and Influenced the World, Gunston Middle School
3rd Place - Navi Chahill, Unlocking the Door to Women's Suffrage, Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School

SPECIAL PRIZES, District 5

The George Washington Leadership Prize
Presented by George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate, Museum & Gardens and the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington.

George Washington stood at the center of the world stage from 1753 until his death in 1799.  He played a pivotal role in every major event surrounding the founding of our nation.  His perseverance and often underrated ability as Commander in Chief ensured American independence from Great Britain.  His presence at the Constitutional Convention assured legitimacy and, later, ratification. The precedents he set as the first president continue to guide presidential policies.  His examples of civic responsibility and responsible leadership remain relevant examples today.

This $250 prize will be awarded to an outstanding project in both the junior and senior division that demonstrates a clear understanding of the ideas and events that defined Washington’s leadership in his roles as commander in chief of the Continental Army, presiding officer of the Constitutional Convention, entrepreneur, and/or first president.

We encourage students to research a topic on this essential man in American history.  Ideas include involvement in the French and Indian War, service as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, presiding over the Constitutional Convention, the Presidency, and innovations in farming.  To research a topic for consideration of the George Washington Leadership in History Prize here are some sources that will be helpful in your research.

National Museum of the Marine Corps Award
The National Museum of the Marine Corps in partnership with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation will present an award judged to be the best entry with a history of the Marine Corps subject within the guidelines of this year’s theme of “Turning Points in History.” The award will consist of a check for $1000 to the winner.  For more information on the National Museum of the Marine Corps Award please contact Dan Clendaniel at teacher@marineheritage.org.
 
Citizenship History Award
The Virginia Society Sons of the American Revolution, Fairfax Resolves, Culpeper Minute Men, George Mason and Col. Fielding Lewis Chapters, will present an award judged to be the best entry regarding Revolutionary War history. Two prizes will be awarded, one in the Junior Division, the other in the Senior Division. The award will consist of a savings bond in the amount of $100.

Newseum Power of the Press Award
The Newseum will award a family 4-pack of tickets to the outstanding project in both the junior and senior division that examines a turning point in history in which media coverage played a significant role.  Media coverage includes all the ways we have of sharing information such as the Internet, television, radio, and print publications.  The project should demonstrate why media coverage was critical to the person, idea or event and how media influenced the public’s understanding of the turning point in history.  The Newseum is a non-profit museum that educates the public about the value of a free press in a free society and tells the stories of the world's important events in unique and engaging ways.