Alabama students win at National History Day
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 6th through 12th 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)