April 28, 2020—Over the past two weeks, students from Shaker Heights High School joined 700 other Ohio students to compete for Ohio History Day’s special prizes and for the opportunity to compete at the National History Day competition in June at the University of Maryland at College Park. The theme for this year's National History Day competition is "Breaking Barriers in History."
Five Shaker Heights High School student projects, representing 12 students, will advance to the National Competition. In addition, three Shaker Heights High School projects won first place. Overall, 11 of Shaker's 15 state finalist projects won an award as National Qualifiers, National Alternates, Honorable Mentions or Special Awards.
Students work with Individuals and Societies teachers Sarah Davis and Joseph Konopinski, with assistance from many other faculty, editorial assists from the High School’s Writing Center, and counsel from the Theater Department.
Results are listed by category. "Senior" indicates high school level competition. First- and second-place winners both qualify to compete at the National Competition and Third place indicates a National Competition Alternate.
Senior Group Documentary
National Finalist, First Place: Fighting Side by Side: The Story of President Harry Truman’s Initiative to Integrate the Armed Forces by Will Corbin, Sam Grube and Avery Maytin
Senior Group Exhibit
National Finalist, First Place: “I Believe in Cleveland” by Nichele Abeyesundere, Nora Konrad and Jonathan Brinkley
National Alternate, Third Place: Jackie Cochran: Aviation’s Heroine Katie Fraser, Leela Khatri, Daniel Tcheurekdjian and Aziza Reddy
Senior Individual Exhibit
National Finalist, Second Place: Title IX: How America's Girls Got in the Game by Abby Harper
Senior Group Performance
National Finalist, First Place: Martha Graham in her Own Words by Lydia Vadnal, Henry Harte, Cody Englander, and Maddy McKenney
National Alternate, Third Place: Blowing the Lid Off of the Soviet Union: How Chernobyl Led to the Collapse of the USSR by Maria Krouse and Anna Welsh
Honorable Mention: Title IX: How America’s Girls Got in the Game by Lucy Dale, Marie York and Olivia Kuhel
Senior Individual Performance
National Finalist, Second Place: Carol Burnett: Running with the Big Dogs by Mary Grace Wilkinson
Senior Group Website
National Alternate, Third Place: The Establishment of Yellowstone National Park by William Welsh, Owen Bang, John Yasinsky, Gage Weingart
Honorable Mention: The Ambiguous Frontier by Sebastian Schomerus, Marcel Prochoroff, Maclin Stupay, and Oscar Chapnick
Special Awards
The History of Education Award and The Primary Sources Award: Shaker Heights: The Road to Idealizing and Realizing the Suburban Dream Exhibit by Aggie Augustine, Mia Compton-Engle and Grace Fraser
Pride History Award: Title IX: How America’s Girls Got in the Game by Lucy Dale, Marie York and Olivia Kuhel
The Ohio Local History Alliance Award: “I Believe in Cleveland” by Nichele Abeyesundere, Nora Konrad and Jonathan Brinkley
The American Military Award: Fighting Side by Side: The Story of President Harry Truman’s Initiative to Integrate the Armed Forces by Will Corbin, Sam Grube and Avery Maytin