Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) students won eight first place awards at the regional competition for National History Day held last weekend at Mount Vernon High School. The two best entries in each category and in each age division have qualified to compete in the Virginia History Day contest on Saturday, April 18, at Virginia State University in Petersburg.
First place winners included:
*Rachel Wade of Langley High School in Senior Historical Paper for “Set in Stone: Imprinting on the World Through Art.”
*Katherine Detter of McLean High School in Senior Individual Performance for “Belleau Wood: Birthplace of the Modern Marines.”
*Hyunha Hwang of West Springfield High School in Senior Individual Website for “The Korean Independence Movement: Leading the Country out of Japanese Control.”
*Francesca DeLeos and Candice Wong of West Springfield High School in Senior Group Website for “Corazon Aquino and the Fight for the People’s Power.”
*Aaron Granstedt of Langley High School in Senior Individual Exhibit for “Joseph Goebbel’s Legacy of Public Enlightenment.”
*Madison Fletcher and Lane Conzone of Langley High School in Senior Group Exhibit for “Exposing the Horrors: The Truth Behind the Middle Passage.”
*Tristan Anderson and Dan Graham of Lorton Station Elementary School in Junior Group Exhibit for “Lance Armstrong.”
*Noah Stroup, Jorge Palomo, and Sajel Behari of Lorton Station Elementary School in Junior Group Website for “Admiral Rickover.”
Special awards were presented to the following FCPS students: Wednesday Amaya of Westfield High School for “Frida Kahlo” in Senior Individual Performance, the National Women’s History Museum award; Katherine Detter of McLean High School for “Belleau Wood: Birthplace of the Modern Marines” in Senior Individual Performance, the National Museum of the Marine Corps award; Ricki Thakuri and Anissa Raja of Lorton Station Elementary School for “A Woman in a Man’s World” in Junior Group Performance, the Newseum First Amendment Freedoms Award; Marie Laverdiere of West Springfield High School for “Reagan and Gorbachev Leading the World Out of the Cold War” in Senior Individual Exhibit, the United States Institute of Peace award; Tsuyoshi Nemoto of Mount Vernon High School for “The 442nd Regimental Combat Team” in Senior Individual Exhibit, the 1882 Foundation award; Anna Otto of Robinson Secondary School for “The Woman Who Wore the Yellow Robe” in Senior Individual Documentary, the Research in Museums Award.
*Second place winners included by Ethan Jennette of West Springfield High School in Senior Historical Paper; Wednesday Amaya of Westfield High School in Senior Individual Performance; Maya Acharya of Westfield High School in Senior Individual Website; Dorothy Adu-Amandkwah and Shirley Kabir of West Springfield High School in Senior Group Website; Catherine Kiser, Meghan McIntyre, and Beth Whittier of West Springfield High School in Senior Group Documentary; Tsuyoshi Nemoto of Mount Vernon High School in Senior Individual Exhibit; Sonal Kumar and Saba Farooqi of West Springfield High School in Senior Group Exhibit; and Emma Hogan of Whitman Middle School in Junior Individual Exhibit. Also advancing to state competition were Meghan Connors of Robinson Secondary School and Mary Jane MacArthur of West Springfield High School in Senior Historical Paper; Zachary Schwartz of Westfield High School in Senior Individual Performance; Sarah Woods of West Springfield High School in Senior Individual Website; Shannon Ghahramani, Margo Beck, and Leena Tahmassian-Pacosian of Langley High School and Alexis Jackson and Khala Halbert of Westfield High School in Senior Group Website; Anna Otto of Robinson Secondary School in Senior Individual Documentary; Constanza Hasselmann, Tyler Wernecke, and Sasha Vaughan of West Springfield High School in Senior Group Documentary; Megha Kalyan of Centreville High School in Senior Individual Exhibit; Grace Eassa, Sophia Cronin, and Alicja Galecka of West Springfield High School and Ariana Scott, Camille Guzman, and Alyssa Kassebaum of Mount Vernon High School in Senior Group Exhibit; Josh Dow of Whitman Middle School and Julia Lee of Lorton Station Elementary School in Junior Individual Exhibit; Sinna Nic and Kimberly Boateng of Springfield Estates Elementary School and Danielle Paul and Renee Starego of Whitman Middle School in Junior Group Exhibit; Anna Chung and Dagny Scannell of Springfield Estates Elementary School in Junior Group Performance; and Samantha Underwood of Springfield Estates Elementary School in Junior Individual Documentary.