MCPS Students Compete in Maryland History Day Competition, Move On to Nationals

MCPS had more than 25 student winners in the Maryland History Day competition, held May 6 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, the culmination of a year-long program from Maryland Humanities. The following students will advance to the National History Day competition:

Poolesville High School:

Students: Rhia Basit, Ava Milisits and Kyna Owusu
Award: Senior Group Exhibit, Second Place
Topic: André Leon Talley’s Closet: The Frontier of Fashion
Teacher: Stephanie Gomer

Poolesville High School
Student: Chloe Chang
Award: Senior Paper, Second Place
Topic: “It’s Not Fair:” How the Justice for Vincent Chin Campaign Crossed Frontiers for Asian American Activism
Teacher: Stephanie Gomer

Winston Churchill High School
Students: Garion Cheng, Victoria Diaz, Soham Jinsi, Henry Shan and Luke Wu
Award: Senior Group Documentary, Second Place
Topic: Crawling Across the Frontier: The Capitol Crawl of 1990
Teacher: Christopher Forney

Poolesville High School
Student: Laura Civillico
Award: Senior Paper, First Place
Topic: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Frontier of Gender Roles in America
Teacher: Jennifer Marks

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School
Students: Amit Hedge and Samarth Korada
Award: Junior Group Exhibit, Second Place
Topic: Plastic – A Bad Reputation for a Life Changing Invention
Teacher: Lisa Wroblewski

Eastern Middle School
Students: Diana Ince and Rebecca McCracken
Award: Junior Group Performance, First Place
Topic: The Negative Impact of the Lewis and Clark Expedition on Native Americans
Teacher: Ryann Flynn

Northwood High School
Students: Michael Lioe and Atir Pradhan
Award: Senior Group Website, Second Place
Topic: Vikings: Frontiers in History
Teacher: Monica Bond-Lamberty

Poolesville High School
Students: Nora Rudmann and Christopher Yeung
Award: Senior Group Website, First Place
Topic: “The Happiest Place on Earth”
Teacher: Stephanie Gomer

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School
Student: Ishita Singh
Award: Junior Individual Performance, Second Place
Topic: The woman who dared: Lakshmibai
Teacher: James Dempsey

Special Prize Winners

Newport Mill Middle School
Students: Ben Godoy, Luca Petroni and Lian Umberger
Award: Eugene J. Becker Award for Excellence in Cybersecurity & Cryptology, Junior Division, sponsored by National Cryptologic Museum Foundation
Topic: Codemaking, Codebreaking and the Evolution of Secret Writing
Category: Junior Group Website
Teacher: Matthew Baldassano

Redland Middle School
Student: Natalia Hay
Award: Excellence in Asian History, sponsored by University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of History
Topic: America’s Concentration Camps: Geographic Isolation, Racial Segregation and Activism on the Historic Frontier
Category: Junior Individual Exhibit
Teacher: Lori Enicks-Kniss

Poolesville High School
Students: Daniela Martinez and Allison Sweeney
Award: Excellence in Women’s History, Senior Division, sponsored by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center
Topic: The Evolution of Media in The Riot Grrrl Movement
Category: Group Performance
Teacher: Stephanie Gomer

Eastern Middle School
Student: Olivia Nelson and Sarani Neravanda
Award: Excellence in Legal & Constitutional History, Junior Division, sponsored by Cynthia Raposo and Joseph Furey
Topic: The Loving v. Virginia Case of 1967 and How it Affected Originalism and Cases Dealing with Equal Rights in the Future
Category: Group Performance
Teacher: Ryan Flynn

Newport Mill Middle School
Student: Lydia Tucker
Award: The Barry A. Lanman Award for Excellence in Oral History, sponsored by Barry A. Lanman
Topic: Math, Airplanes and Radar: How World War Innovations Changed the Frontier of Weather Forecasting
Category: Junior Paper
Teacher: Alex Furno

Lori Enicks-Kniss, social studies teacher at Redland Middle School, was named Maryland History Day District Teacher of the Year.