Florida History Fair Team Wins at National Contest

Tallahassee, Florida –

Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner is pleased to announce the Florida student winners of the National History Day (NHD) competition in College Park, Maryland. After months of intensive research and success at district and state level contests, 61 students from 14 counties represented Florida at the national competition, June 9–13.

"I am very proud of the accomplishments of the students who represented Florida at the National History Day contest," said Secretary Detzner. "These outstanding students are shining examples of the potential that exists in Florida schools."

The middle and high school students prepared historical paper, documentary, performance, exhibit, and website entries relating to the 2012–13 theme, "Turning Points in History: People, Ideas, Events."  With approximately 56,000 students participating statewide, Florida has the largest program among the fifty-six National History Day affiliates. More than 2,800 students from the 50 states, District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and international schools in Korea, China, and South Asia attended the largest national competition in NHD’s 33 year history.

Listed below are Florida’s national-level winners. All first-place winners earn the designation of "NEH Scholar" because their awards are funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

1st Place:  Junior Division—Individual Performance
Macy Mateer
Barbara Walters: Changing the Channel for Women in Broadcasting
Gulf Breeze Middle School (Santa Rosa); Teacher: Grace Freeman

3rd Place: Senior Division—Individual Exhibit
Mia Radovanovic
Margaret Sanger:  The Birth of Women’s Control
Palm Harbor University High School (Pinellas); Teacher:  Malla Kolhoff

Special Prize:  Asian American History Award
Julie Nguyen, Tuan Tran
End of the Vietnam War:  A Turning Point for Vietnamese Immigrants and Its Impact on America—Junior Group Documentary
Diplomat Middle School (Lee); Teacher: Melissa Dahlberg

Outstanding State Award—Junior Division
Jordan Latimer, Jacob Stavres, Evan Stewart, Daniel Sweeney
Apollo 11:  Making the Impossible Possible—Junior Group Performance
Sacred Heart Home School (Leon); Teachers: Cheryl Latimer, Christie Stavres, Renee Sweeney

Outstanding State Award—Senior Division
Mashli Fleurestil, Dane Parchment
Brown v Board of Education:  Equal Protection for All—Senior Group Documentary
Sheridan Hills Christian School (Broward); Teacher: Nikki Berger

Finalists
6th Place:  Amy Paskiewicz
Chairman Mao’s Purgatory:  The Impact of Communist Rule on China—Junior Individual Website
Dunedin Highland Middle School (Pinellas); Teacher: Teresa Bergstrom

6th Place:  Gabriela Berner, Jordana Berner, Samantha Berner
Three Mile Island—Senior Group Exhibit
Coral Springs Charter School (Broward); Teachers:  Tamara Moore, Michelle Moore

7th Place:  Rachel Joyner
Age of Antibiotics: The Transformation of Medicine and the Consequent Arms Race Between Man and Microbe—Senior Historical Paper
Leon High School (Leon); Teacher:  Lewis Tillman

Special Recognition
National Museum of American History "National History Night"
(Each NHD affiliate was invited to select an exhibit to be on display at NMAH for a day.) 
Hannah Cuevas, Emma Hamrick
NASA’s Impact on Florida—Junior Group Exhibit
Saint Paul Catholic School (Escambia); Teacher: Lori Cuevas

National History Day is a year-long educational program that encourages students in grades 6 to 12 to enhance research, writing, communication, and critical thinking skills through the process of historical discovery.  The 61 students who advanced to the NHD contest were winners at the Florida History Fair in May. About 1,000 students representing 32 counties competed at the state level. The Florida History Fair is one of the statewide services sponsored by the Museum of Florida History, Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Department of State. A list of state and national winners and Florida History Fair sponsors can be viewed at FloridaHistoryFair.com.