Wilton Students Advance to History Day Finals

300 Students Compete at Annual History Day Regional Contest in Fairfield:
Finalists Move on to Connecticut State Contest on May 9 at CCSU

Fairfield, CT – This past Saturday, March 21, 2015, over 300 students representing the communities of Bridgeport, Fairfield, Greenwich, Middlebury, Newtown,  Norwalk, Redding, Ridgefield, Sandy Hook, Shelton, Southbury, Stamford, Wallingford, Weston, Westport and Wilton presented their History Day projects to judges at the Fairfield Regional History Day in Connecticut Contest at Fairfield University.

State Senator Tony Hwang and State Representatives Cristin McCarthy Vahey, Laura Devlin and Brenda Kupchick presented awards to students who placed within the top three of their respective categories at an Award Ceremony that took place at the end of the day. Judges, students and their families were also entertained by the Coastal Chordsmen, a Bridgeport-based non-profit men's chorus known for their entertaining a cappella performances.

History Day participants can choose to present their projects, which must be based on this year’s theme of Leadership and Legacy in History, within one of the five History Day categories. These categories include exhibits, documentaries, websites, papers and performances. Students in grades 6-8 compete within the Junior Division and students in grades 9-12 compete within the Senior Division. Students who place in the top three in their respective categories and divisions are invited to compete in the State History Day Contest, which will take place on May 9, 2015 at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

The following students from Fairfield County advanced:

 

Category: Individual Exhibit

First Place: Estelle Griswold- Leadership and Legacy of Reproductive Rights Student: Lauren Stack

School: Staples High School, Westport

Second Place: Richard Rough: Nature Conservancy Student: Jackson Daines

School: Staples High School, Westport

Third Place: Women in Engineering: Emil Roebling Student: Elizabeth Gikas

School: Staples High School, Westport

 

Category: Group Exhibit

First Place: Katherine Hepburn Students: Christina Yu, Claire Seo

School: Staples High School, Westport

Second Place: J. Alden Weir: Painting a Legacy

Students: Isabel Saltzman, Mary Lynch, Elizabeth Lynch, Hana Previte, Claire Graham

School: Wilton High School, Wilton

Third Place: Westport Country Playhouse Students: Alice Hickson, Zoe Mezoff, Julie Kaplan

School: Staples High School, Westport

 

Category: Group Documentary

First Place: Frederick Rentschler Students: Jonathan Demeter, Benjamin Shmaruk, Dylan Gleicher

School: Staples High School, Westport

Second Place: Leadership and Legacy of New Haven Pizza Students: Logan Horowitz, Jake Moskowitz, Jack Pflug, Jerrett Rende

School: Staples High School, Westport

Third Place: Igor Sikorsky- A Leader in Aviation Students: James Farnen, Kieran Clarke

School: Staples High School, Westport

 

Category: Individual Documentary

First Place: Leadership and Legacy of Tanaquil LeClercq Students: Elizabeth Rhoads

School: Staples High School, Westport

Second Place: Prudence Crandall Student: Alex McMahon

School: Staples High School, Westport

Third Place: Harriet Beecher Stowe Student: Kellie Innacone

School: Staples High School, Westport

 

Category: Group Website

First Place: Samuel Colt

Students: Kyle Fenstermacher, Wesley Beeler, Evan Hruskar School: Staples High School, Westport

Second Place: Igor Skikorsky

Students: Ananya Balaji, Dylan Diamond, Ben Parker, Zack Ross School: Staples High School, Westport

Third Place: Connecticut Sports

Students: Bryan Penwell, Finn McCartin

 

Category: Individual Website

First Place: Ella Grasso Student: Lulu Stracher

School: Staples High School, Westport

Second Place: Ulysses S Grant: A Legacy of Corruption Student: Carolina Jones

School: Brien McMahon High School, Norwalk

 

Category: Senior Paper

First Place: One Nation Under God: The Leadership of John Winthrop and Roger Williams

Student: Alice Chaumann School: Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, Stamford

Second Place: Clara Barton: From Stubbornness to Success

Student: Tanusri Balla School: Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, Stamford

 

Junior Division

Category: Group Website

First Place: Alfred Nobel Innovator to the Modern Era Students: Soumya Ganti, Abby Moran, Srishti Pithadia

School: Madison Middle School, Madison

Second Place: Wernher Von Braun: Rocketing into the Space Age Students: Aidan Kiley, Henry Essex School: Fairfield Woods Middle School, Fairfield

Third Place: History of the Klu Klux Klan

Students: Jonathan Dias, Isaiah Merced School: Shelton Intermediate School, Shelton

 

Category: Individual Website

First Place: JFK and his Navigation through the Cuban Missile Crisis Student: Luke Welch

School: Bedford Middle School, Westport

Second Place: General Patton Student: Kyle Young

School: Shelton Intermediate School, Shelton

Third Place: Rosalind Franklin Student: Peter Porrello

School: Rochambeau Middle School, Southbury

 

Category: Group Documentary

First Place: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Students: Brendan Moore, Tobey Bill, David Tamburri, Beck Reiferson

School: Weston Middle School, Weston

Second Place: Sir Nicholas Winto and the Kinder Transport Students: Etoile Blaquiere, Vivian Wen, Grace Millman

School: Weston Middle School, Weston

Third Place: Steve Jobs Students: Alexander Yu, Christopher, Pellegrini, Joseph Zarif, Kelvin Zhang

School: Memorial Middle School, Middlebury

 

Category: Individual Documentary

First Place: George Eastman: Reinventing the Image Student: Camden Archambeau

School: Cairn Hill Academy, Weston

Second Place: Bells Calling Student: Hannah Nekritz

School: Turn of River Middle School, Stamford

 

Category: Group Exhibit

First Place: Coco: Building the House of Chanel Students: Emily Sforza, Zoe Gupta, Mia Pollock

School: Fairfield Woods Middle School, Fairfield

Second Place: Malala Yousafzai: Leader, Activist, Heroine Students: Lynne Andre, Hadley Day

School: Fairfield Woods Middle School, Fairfield

Third Place: Louis Zamperini: A Story of Forgiveness, Strength and Perseverance Students: Riya Dave, Luka Holderied

School: Fairfield Woods Middle School, Fairfield

 

Category: Individual Exhibit

First Place: Educating the Public and the Persecuted: How Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Books and Prudence Crandall’s School Helped to Make Integration Possible

Student: Jasmine Conley School: Roger Ludlowe Middle School, Fairfield

Second Place: The Undying Jefferson: Leadership and Legacy

Student: Sophie Jalkut School: Roger Ludlowe Middle School, Fairfield

Third Place: Little Rock Nine

Student: Rose Luczaj School: Roger Ludlowe Middle School, Fairfield

 

Category: Group Performance

First Place: Emma Goldman: Speaking Truth to Power Students: Caroline Lauf, Maggie Limone

School: Fairfield Woods Middle School, Fairfield

Second Place: Wild Bill Donovan Students: Colleen Moore, Julia Morledge

School: Weston Middle School, Weston

Third Place: Igor Sikorsky: Pioneer, Aviator, Innovator Students: Mark Handler, Ethan Rodier, Peter Cullen, Samir Singh, Matt Holden

School: Fairfield Woods Middle School, Fairfield

 

Category: Individual Performance

First Place: Winston Churchill: The Great Orator Student: James Gikas

School: Bedford Middle School, Westport

Second Place: Harriet Beecher Stowe Students: Grace Sperber

School: Covent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich

Third Place: Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson: Voices for Freedom Students: Meghan Andrade

School: Tomlinson Middle School, Fairfield

 

Category: Junior Paper

First Place: Nelson Mandela Student: Jack Adams

School: Roger Ludlow Middle School, Fairfield

Second Place: Isabella Beecher Hooker: An Archivist Lost in Time Student: Lizzie Hinds

School: Fairfield Woods Middle School, Fairfield

Third Place: Julia Child Student: Julian Coyle

School: Phoenix Prep, Fairfield

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Submitted by Wilton, CT

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