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Congratulations to all the students who participated in the 2024 Virginia District 5 National History Day competition on March 2nd! 

First, Second, and Third prize winners will represent District 5 at this year's Virginia State History Day Competition in April. 

Historical Paper

SENIOR HISTORICAL PAPER

First Place: The Abolition of Sati in India: A Struggle Shaped by Resistant Traditions, Indigenous Reform, and British Colonialism by Rania Lateef of Charles J. Colgan Senior High 
Second Place: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: A Turning Point for Labor Reform by Jason Shin of Oakton High School
Third Place: Insulin: A Transformative Milestone in Diabetes Care and its Enduring Legacy in Shaping Modern Medicine by Claire Pearson of West Springfield High School                                                                

JUNIOR HISTORICAL PAPER

First Place: The Father of American Agriculture: How the Langstroth Hive Turned Agriculture and Honeybees by Caroline Tso of Frost Middle School
Second Place: Penicillin: A Historical Perspective on its Discovery, Impact, and Future Implications by Alex Cho of Frost Middle School
Third Place: Henrietta Lacks and the Impact of HeLa by Alison Chung of Haycock Elementary                              

 

Individual Exhibit

SENIOR INDIVIDUAL EXHIBIT

First Place: Impressionism, a Moment in Time by Anais Martinez of West Springfield High School
Second Place: The Controversial Legacy of Juan Peron: Populist or Oppressor? by Elena Lizarraga of West Springfield High School
Third Place: James Watt's Steam Engine--A Revolutionary Force by Maureen Mao of Langley High School

JUNIOR INDIVIDUAL EXHIBIT

First Place: America's Living Room: The Kennedy-Nixon Debates of 1960 by Arabella Horton of Harmony Middle School
Second Place:
The Bombing of Pearl Harbor- Turning Point in World War II by Amelia Joe of Haycock Elementary School
Third Place:
Black Power Salute by Maya Adams Rothrock of Francis C. Hammond Middle School

YOUTH/ELEMENTARY INDIVIDUAL EXHIBIT

First Place: The Battle of the Alamo: Blasting Texas into Independence and the United States into a World Power by Daniel Akagi of the Akagi Family
Second Place:
Monet - Turning Colors into History by Claire Juran of Dranesville Elementary School
Third Place:
The American Revolution by Oliver Tuckley of Groveton Elementary School                        

Group Exhibit

SENIOR GROUP EXHIBIT

First Place: Bloedrivier, die begin van 'n nasie. Ncome, ukuphela kwesizwe. by Ellie Cymrot, Teresa Durso, and Savannah Stec of Fredericksburg Academy
Second Place: The Special Olympics: A Turning Point for Human Rights by Jessica McMahon and Charlotte Petrick of West Springfield High School
Third Place: A Turning Point in the Middle East: The Arab Revolt of 1916 by Kai Jackson and Christopher Lee of West Springfield High School

JUNIOR GROUP EXHIBIT

First Place: The Salem Witch Trials - Where's the Evidence? by Lisa Sasso, Chloe Scott, Hayden Trowell, Amelia Welch of Browne Academy
Second Place: Tear Down This Wall by Elyse John and Daniya Khalimova of Haycock Elementary School
Third Place: The All American Girls Professional Baseball League by Ruby Atkisson and Nora Plunkett of George Washington Middle School

YOUTH/ELEMENTARY GROUP EXHIBIT

First Place: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and the French Working Together to Win the Revolutionary War by Avery Moran and Amiya Woolcock of Groveton Elementary School
Second Place: George Washington's Military Experience by Layla DeCorla Souza and Maya Ramos of Groveton Elementary School
Third Place: The Inspiring Amelia Earhart by Prudence Middleton and Evelyn Wilson of Dranesville Elementary School

Individual Performance

SENIOR INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE

First Place: Great Grandpa's Box by Daniel Brunson of West Springfield High School
Second Place: Changing Norms: How Women Contributed to WWII by Alice Aramendia of H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program

JUNIOR INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE

First Place: Dr. Charles Drew - The Father of the Blood Bank by August Price of Haycock Elementary School
Second Place: Florence Nightingale: A Turning Point in Nursing by Zoe Schall of Haycock Elementary School
Third Place: The Battle of Yorktown - A Victory that Set America Free by Zoey Joyce of Loudoun Country Day School

Group Performance

SENIOR GROUP PERFORMANCE

First Place: The 1970s: The Decade that Changed the Death Penalty by Brynne Hill and Zoe Mozena of Fredericksburg Academy
Second Place:
Fashion in the 1920s by Aviva Fierst and Lydia Payne of Fredericksburg Academy

 

JUNIOR GROUP PERFORMANCE

First Place: Margaret Brent: The First Woman Lawyer in Colonial America by Devin Barnes, Rhythm Pal, Matilda Rossbach, Mila Smith of Browne Academy
Second Place: 
Slave Laws in the Colonies by Aiden Nash, Miles Porter, Dawson Sauls of Browne Academy
Third Place: 
The Stono Rebellion by Leena Drumwright, Ava Nuckols, and Annabelle Wien of Browne Academy

 

Individual Website

SENIOR INDIVIDUAL WEBSITE

First Place: Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen: The Accidental Discovery that Changed Medicine by Helen Jiang of West Springfield High School
Second Place: The Battle of the Chosin Reservoir: The Fight for Korea's Future by Russell Jenkins of West Springfield High School
Third Place: How the GUI and Mouse of the 1984 Macintosh Changed World History by Oskar Sambandam of Langley High School

JUNIOR INDIVIDUAL WEBSITE

First Place: Rachel Carson's Sil;ent Spring: Bringing Public Awareness to Pesticide Usage -- a Turning Point that Ignited the Environmental Movement by Julianna Sun of Longfellow Middle School
Second Place: Rugged Track: A Turning Point for Chinese Americans through the Untold Story of the Transcontinental Railroad by Isabelle Wang of Haycock Elementary School
Third Place: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: A Turning Point in the Labor Movement by Sophie Xie of Haycock Elementary School

Group Website

SENIOR GROUP WEBSITE

First Place: WWII Era: When Women Joined the Workforce in America by Jasmine Oliver and Gabrielle Trout of Fredericksburg Academy
Second Place: Sir William Osler: The Man Who Redefined Medicine by Adham Elbaragah, Reed Johson, and Dat Mai of Westfield High School
Third Place: 9/11: A Turning Point in National Security and International Relations by Caroline Cantillo and Audrey Cortright of West Springfield High School

 

JUNIOR GROUP WEBSITE

First Place: The Manhattan Project: Dawn of the Nuclear Age by Andrew Zhu and Ethan Zhu of Haycock Elementary School
Second Place: Loving V. Virginia: How the Lovings Got Married by Kaili Cruz Benitez, Kimberly Cruz Benitez, Andy Alvarez-Gutierrez of Whitman Middle School 
Third Place:Brown v. Board of Education by Saarth Erry, Jaeyoung Jeong, and Rishan Sharmaof Haycock Elementary School

Individual Documentary

SENIOR INDIVIDUAL DOCUMENTARY

First Place: The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Feminist History by Paige Bergmann of H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program 
Second Place: Polio Pioneers: The Polio Epidemics of the Mid-1900's by Leah Wadsworth of West Springfield High School
Third Place: Impressionism: The First Modern Art Movement by Kathryn Devlin of West Springfield High School

JUNIOR INDIVIDUAL DOCUMENTARY

First Place: AWS vs. WASA: A Turning Point Lawsuit for the Anacostia River by Colin Li of Longfellow Middle School
Second Place: Averting Global Catastrophe: Jonathan Shanklin and the Hole in the Ozone Layer by Olivia Cho of Haycock Elementary School
Third Place: Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine: A Turning Point in Medicine by Evah Pho of Haycock Elementary School

Group Documentary

SENIOR GROUP DOCUMENTARY

First Place: The Impact of Nitrogen Fertilizers on Human Population by Anthony Aue and Nathan Lim of Langley High School
Second Place: Sports Endorsements: The Turning Point of the Game by Drew Fischer, Theo Gandiya, Noah Holbert, and William Mcllhany of Fredericksburg Academy
Third Place: 9/11 Forever Changed Transportation Safety and Security by Hamza Aziz, Parker Cottrell, and Logan Meier of Fredericksburg Academy

 

JUNIOR GROUP DOCUMENTARY

First Place: The Battle of Trafalgar by Paul Loberg, Theodore Marvin, and Callen Ohlandt of George Washington Middle School
Second Place: The Night of Terror: A Turning Point in Women's Sufferage by Khalil Lazear, Shayne Suslowitz, and Dorothy Thompson of Francis C. Hammond Middle School
Third Place: The Annexation of Hawaii: The Kingdom that Changed America by Connor Green and Henry Lee of Haycock Elementary School

 

Special Awards

The George Washington Leadership Prize sponsored by George Washington's Mount Vernon and the George Washington Presidential Library

The Cherry Tree: Turning Washington into a Legendary Hero by Theo Blashford and Malaki Hines(Senior Group Exhibit)

Stockbridge Indians' Involvement in the Revolutionary War by Anastasia Kpognon (Junior Individual Performance)

George Washington's Military Experience by Layla DeCorla Souza and Maya Ramos (Elementary Group Exhibit)

 

National Museum of the Marine Corps Award sponsored by the National Museum of the Marine Corps in partnership with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation

Great Grandpa's Box by Daniel Brunson (Senior Individual Performance)

The Battle of the Chosin Reservoir: The Fight for Korea's Future by Russell Jenkins (Senior Individual Website)

 

 

 

Special Awards

The VA History Day/VASSAR MEDAL is sponsored by Virginia Sons of the American Revolution

George Washington's Military Experience by Layla DeCorla Souza and Maya Ramos (Elementary Group Exhibit)

George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and the French Working Together to Win the Revolutionary War by Avery Moran and Amiya Woolcock (Elementary Group Exhibit)

 

The Army Historical Foundation Award sponsored by the Army Historical Foundation, the official Foundation of the National Museum of the United States Army

Go for Broke by Tucker Nakazono (Senior Historical Paper)

For Award Descriptions Click Here