Three Alabama schools took home top honors in National History Day 2019 in College Park, MD, an intensive competition that drew students from across the country.

Winners were:

• Starlyn Fistein – Phillips Preparatory School, Mobile, Alabama, Outstanding State Entry (Junior Individual Performance, The Legacy of Cudjo “Kazoola” Lewis: How the Hatred and Heartbreak of a Transatlantic Slave Trade Tragedy Led to the Cultural Triumph of Africatown)
• Timmy Bradshaw and Hunter Goffinett – Sparkman High School, Harvest Alabama, Outstanding State Entry (Senior Group Website, Through the Darkness to the Stars)
• Grayson Morgan – Burns Middle School, Mobile, Alabama, Special Award in History of Agriculture and Rural Life (Junior Individual Documentary, Enterprise, Alabama: Rising from the Ashes)

Grayson Morgan and Dr. Cathy Gorn

Morgan’s recognition is sponsored by the Agricultural History Society and is awarded to the best project in either division, in any category, focused on the history of agriculture and/or rural life in any country or time period. The Agricultural Historical Society was founded in 1919 to promote the study of the history of agriculture and rural life in America and throughout the world.

“We are so proud of these students and what they have accomplished in this competition on the state level and now on the national stage,” said Alabama Humanities Foundation Executive Director Armand DeKeyser. “The lessons and skills they learn through these competitions will be ones that will last a lifetime.”

AHF and Auburn University in Montgomery partner to produce Alabama History Day, an annual competition on the state level. Winners in that event go on to compete nationally.

Founded in 1974, National History Day is a project-based competition for 6^th through 12^th grade students.

It offers students an opportunity to conduct months-long historical research and present those findings in a variety of ways, including documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances and websites.

Winners in Alabama History Day were:

Student: Bailey, Darien

School: Ben C. Rain High School (Mobile)

Teacher: Jessie Wells

Category: Senior Group Performance (One Voice: A Musical Tribute to the American Spirit)

Student: Bailey, Sarah

School: Bernice J. Causey Middle School (Mobile)

Teacher: Melissa Motes

Category: Junior Group Website (James Reese Europe)

Student: Barnes, Amaya

School: Ben C. Rain High School (Mobile)

Teacher: Jessie Wells

Category: Senior Group Performance (One Voice: A Musical Tribute to the American Spirit)

Student: Barnes, Kamryn

School: Ben C. Rain High School (Mobile)

Teacher: Jessie Wells

Category: Senior Group Performance (One Voice: A Musical Tribute to the American Spirit)

Student: Bradshaw, Abby

School: Sparkman High School (Harvest)

Teacher: Erin Coggins

Category: Senior Paper (Triumph and Tragedy: James A. Garfield and the Pendleton Civil Service Act)

Student: Bradshaw, Timmy

School: Sparkman High School (Harvest)

Teacher: Erin Coggins

Category: Senior Group Website (Through the Darkness to the Stars)

Student: Byrd, Addison

School: Phillips Preparatory Middle School (Mobile)

Teacher: Cheryl Burch

Category: Junior Group Website (The Clotilda: Where it All Ends)

Student: Chambers, Jr., Demetrius

School: Ben C. Rain High School (Mobile)

Teacher: Jessie Wells

Category: Senior Group Performance (One Voice: A Musical Tribute to the American Spirit)

Student: Collins, Serenity

School: Prattville Jr. High School (Prattville)

Teacher: Courtney Spencer

Category: Junior Group Exhibit (Salem Witch Trials: How Fear Led to Tragedy)

Student: Crutchfield, Brelyn

School: Baker High School (Mobile)

Teacher: Marcee Hinds

Category: Senior Group Documentary (SNCC: Through the Eyes of Bob Zellner)

Student: Dice, Spencer

School: Sparkman High School (Harvest)

Teacher: Erin Coggins

Category: Senior Group Exhibit (Division through Unification)

Student: Duren, Chloe

School: Murphy High School (Mobile)

Teacher: Sarah Wohltring

Category: Senior Individual Website (Violence, Vice, & Voting Rights)

Student: Ferrell, Daisy

School: Mattie T. Blount High School (Mobile)

Teacher: Tamaka Kidd

Category: Senior Individual Performance (The Greenwood District: A True Triumph and Tragedy)

Starlyn Fistein

Student: Fistein, Starlyn

School: Phillips Preparatory Middle School (Mobile)

Teacher: Cheryl Burch

Category: Junior Individual Performance (The Legacy of Cudjo “Kazoola” Lewis: How the Hatred and Heartbreak of a Transatlantic Slave Trader Led to the Cultural Triumph of Africatown)

Student: Fuller, Ashlea

School: Springwood School (Lanett)

Teacher: Karen Kelley

Category: Senior Individual Exhibit (The Triumph and Tragedy of Mary Edwards Walker: A Feminist Surgeon and Prisoner of War)

Student: Girlie, Landon

School: Prattville Jr. High School (Prattville)

Teacher: Courtney Spencer

Category: Junior Group Exhibit (Salem Witch Trials: How Fear Led to Tragedy)

Student: Hebert, Inman

School: Prattville Jr. High School (Prattville)

Teacher: Courtney Spencer

Category: Junior Individual Documentary (Genocide in Srebrenica: Triumph & Tragedy of Ethnic Nationalism in Yugoslavia)

Student: Hunt, Wesley

School: Clark-Shaw Magnet School (Mobile)

Teacher: Brian Roberts

Category: Junior Individual Exhibit (The Winter War: A Finnish Triumph and a Soviet Failure)

Student: Khan, Sofia

School: Baker High School (Mobile)

Teacher: Marcee Hinds

Category: Senior Group Documentary (SNCC: Through the Eyes of Bob Zellner)

Student: Morgan, Grayson

School: Burns Middle School

Teacher: Krystle Smith

Category: Junior Individual Documentary (Enterprise, Alabama: Rising from the Ashes)

Student: Myers, Campbell

School: Phillips Preparatory Middle School (Mobile)

Teacher: Cheryl Burch

Category: Junior Group Website (The Clotilda: Where it All Ends)

Student: Myers, Isabella

School: Hampton Cove Middle School (Hampton Cove)

Teacher: Dana Hall

Category: Junior Paper (America Makes a Decision That Affects All: The Triumph and Tragedy of Japanese Internet Camps)

Student: Prine, Matthew

School: Semmes Middle School (Semmes)

Teacher: Krystle Smith

Category: Junior Group Exhibit (In the Madhouse: The Tragedy of Nellie Bly)

Student: Reese, Jessica

School: Baker High School (Mobile)

Teacher: Marcee Hinds

Category: Senior Group Documentary (SNCC: Through the Eyes of Bob Zellner)

Student: Rhonemus, Elizabeth

School: Huntsville High School (Huntsville)

Teacher: Amy Bishop

Category: Senior Individual Documentary (The Launch of Skylab: How Teamwork Triumphed and Prevented Tragedy on America’s First Space Station)

Student: Rodgers, Alyssa

Teacher: Melissa Motes

School: Bernice J. Causey Middle School (Mobile)

Category: Junior Group Website (James Reese Europe)

Student: Rowell, Brooklyn

School: Semmes Middle School (Semmes)

Teacher: Krystle Smith

Category: Junior Group Exhibit (In the Madhouse: The Tragedy of Nellie Bly)

Student: Somera, Lana

School: Prattville Jr. High School (Prattville)

Teacher: Courtney Spencer

Category: Junior Individual Website (77 Hours: The Triumphant Bloodless Philippine People Power Revolution of 1986)

Student: Stapler, Eli

School: Hampton Cove Middle School (Hampton Cove)

Teacher: Dana Hall

Category: Junior Individual Exhibit (Apollo 11: A Game Changer)

Student: Williams, Rain

School: Dunbar Creative Performing Arts School (Mobile)

Teacher: Walter Laubenthal

Category: Junior Individual Performance (Ode to Serena Williams)

Student: Zha, Marlan

School: Phillips Preparatory Middle School (Mobile)

Teacher: Cheryl Burch

Category: Junior Individual Website (Chernobyl: The Worst Nuclear Power Generation Disaster in History)