North Carolina Students to Compete in National History Day

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is pleased to announce that 51 North Carolina students from 23 schools will be moving up to the 2024 National History Day© Competition, a global gathering of over 2,800 middle and high school students at the University of Maryland in College Park beginning June 9.

N.C. History Day, an affiliate of the National History Day® program, is designed to inspire historical inquiry in middle and high school classrooms through hands-on discovery and is managed by the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Nine regional competitions were organized across the state by the department and partner organizations, through which over 5,000 students engaged in researching and analyzing this year's theme, “Turning Points in History,” presenting their findings in various creative formats such as exhibits, papers, websites, documentaries, and performances. These local contests culminated in the state contest May 4 at UNC Greensboro, where students emerged as the top finalists in their respective categories.

"Every year I am inspired by the amount of work and scholarship North Carolina students put into their projects, as well as the dedication of our History Day teachers to sparking historical inquiry," said N.C. History Day state coordinator Karen Ipock.

In addition to participating in the week-long national contest events and presenting their projects to judges, several North Carolina students have already had the extra honor of being selected for special showcases and workshops in Washington, D.C., on Wed., June 12. They are as follows:

    • Sixth graders Abigail Blair and Lyla Varnum from The International School at Gregory in Wilmington, N.C., will have their group documentary, "The Day the River Ran Red: The Wilmington Coup of 1898," shown in the Oprah Winfrey Theater at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

    • Eighth grader Michael Wei from Davis Drive Middle in Cary, N.C., will attend a writer's workshop and tour of the White House Visitor Center for his research paper, "Citizenship, the 14th Amendment, and Justice."

    • Eighth graders Zipporah Tunnage and Olivia Stetler from Holly Shelter Middle in Castle Hayne, N.C., will have their exhibit, "In Flames: America's Only Successful Coup," on display in the National Museum of American History.

    • Senior Isabella Hardy from Gryphon Academy in Crossnore, N.C., will perform her project, "Hang Down Your Head and Cry: The Turning Point of the American Folk Revival," at the National Museum of American History. Isabella has the added distinction of competing at the National Contest all seven years of middle and high school.

"Participating at the National Contest is already a special honor," said Karen Ipock. "But to be just some of the few selected for one of these national showcases and workshops is amazing."

The competition will conclude Thur., June 13 with the awards ceremony announcing the top three medal winners in each category and special cash prizes between $250 and $2,000 for superior work in a particular discipline in history.

In addition to the student competitors, two North Carolina teachers are in the running for the Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award. They are Chadwick Stokes from E.B. Frink Middle in La Grange, N.C., and Naomi Barlaz from Cary Academy in Cary, N.C.

Students competing from each N.C. region include:

West
Isabella Hardy, Gryphon Academy (Avery County); Xiaozhi Pan, Asheville School (Buncombe County); Campbell Hodge, Ava Karis Renegar, Kerrigan Wankel, Classical Scholars (Henderson County); Ruby Huggins, Zayden Young, Lia Corbeil, Caroline Sleik, Hendersonville Middle (Henderson County)

Piedmont
Kathryne Hong, Durham Academy (Durham County); Emma He, Irene Xu, Bryan Fernandes, Keegan Fullagar, Marnie Lasher, Alex Lin, Nishitha Daniel, Abby Mocharnuk, Early College at Guilford (Guilford County); Elle Sprenger, Sarah Taaffe, Jack Kendall, Woodlawn School (Iredell County); Dennis Lin, Alvin Shen, Jay M Robinson Middle (Mecklenburg County); Finn McElwee, Chapel Hill High (Orange County); Clarissa Hamlin, Zanyiah Lash, Audrey Seiler, Rockingham Co Early College High (Rockingham County); Catherine Kendall, Ellen Lan, Cary Academy (Wake County); Magali Murray, Crossroads FLEX (Wake County); Michael Wei, Davis Drive Middle (Wake County); Penelope Gilliland, Omer Demirci, Raoul Favret, Sarahna Agarwal, Khushi Ravi Kumar, Pine Springs Preparatory Academy (Wake County)

East
Samuel Pate, Massey Hill Classical High (Cumberland County); David Milbourne, Reid Ross Classical High (Cumberland County); William Gardner, Rowan Forkin, Slade Forkin, Adam Politi, Cape Fear Academy (New Hanover County); Olivia Stetler, Zipporah Tunnage, Holly Shelter Middle (New Hanover County); Scott McFarland, Isaac M Bear Early College High School (New Hanover County); Abigail Blair, Lyla Varnum, The International School at Gregory (New Hanover County); Abram Baker, Wilmington Academy of Arts and Sciences (New Hanover County); Daniel Bashtovyy, Oakwood School (Pitt County); Madalo Bean, Lea Nuckles, Wayne School of Engineering (Wayne County)

About National History Day
In 2024, National History Day© is celebrating its 50th anniversary. More than half a million students from all 50 states, Washington D.C., U.S. territories, and international schools participate in the program globally. The North Carolina affiliate program, N.C. History Day, is administered by the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (www.dncr.nc.gov/nchistoryday) and sponsored by the North Caroliniana Society and Federation of N.C. Historical Societies. It is also supported in part by North Carolina Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.