Wednesday, April 13, 2011

National History Day District Competition

On Saturday, March 19, Birchwood students achieved
outstanding results at the National History Day district
competition held at Case Western Reserve University.
Birchwood students swept the top three places in four out
of nine categories and took the top two places in another
two categories, along with numerous special prizes. In
all, twenty-four students qualified to advance to the state
competition in April.

In the historical paper category, Hannah Y took first
place with her paper on the Reykjavik Summit, Amir F
took second place for his research on the Sam Sheppard
murder case, and Sarah D took third place for her paper
on the Camp David Accords. In the individual website
category, Kavya R took first place, Alexandra P took
second place, and Vinayak K took third place for their
websites on Heliocentrism, Prohibition, and Yellow
Journalism, respectively. In the group website category,
three Birchwood groups also swept the top three places.
Nate C and Clive C placed first with their website on the
War of the Currents, AC vs. DC. Joan C and Sachi G
placed second for their website on the Cuyahoga River
Fire and Ammar M and Darius Z placed third for their
website on the Yalta Conference.

In the individual documentary category, Prithvi P placed
first, Dhweeja D placed second, and Naomi W placed
third for their entries on the Treaty of Versailles, Brown v.
the Board of Education, and Jay’s Treaty, respectively. In
the group documentary category, Peter A and Shan S
placed third with their entry on the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In the individual performance category, Kareem T
placed first with his performance telling the story of the
Montgomery Bus Boycott and Katelyn V placed second with
her performance about child labor at the beginning of the
1900s. In group performances, Trevor L and Abhijeet S
placed first with their performance on the Lincoln/Douglas
debates and Marla B and Sanjana R placed second with
their performance about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
In the individual exhibit category, Brad S placed second
with his exhibit on the Rapido River crossing in World War II.

In addition, Susmita R earned a special award on military
history from the Cleveland Grays for her individual
documentary on the atom bomb. Four students won
special recognition and cash awards from the Early Settlers
Association of the Western Reserve for their entries
focusing on a local topic: Amir F for his historical paper
on Sam Sheppard, Maya F for her historical paper on the
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, and Joan C and
Sachi G for their website on the Cuyahoga River Fire.

Congratulations to all these students for their
accomplishments and good luck to all the students who will
compete at the state competition on April 30 at Columbus
State Community College.