Four Hamilton County students who placed first or second in their categories at this year’s Tennessee History Day contest will represent Tennessee at National History Day competition beginning June 12.
After competing in regional contests across the state, 241 students advanced to this year’s Tennessee History Day competition, held the first two weeks of April. At Tennessee History Day, 102 students representing 26 schools in 12 counties earned recognition.
Ninety-three students earned first, second and third place medals, 23 students were awarded special prizes and two educators were recognized as Educators of the Year.
The Hamilton County students advancing to the National History Day competition are:
1st Place Senior Individual Performance
- Project: Songs of Diplomacy: The Jazz Ambassadors
- Student: Ricardo Wang-Polendo
- School: McCallie School
- Educator: Duke Richey
1st Place Senior Individual Paper
- Project: Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo: Diplomatically Dismantling State Terrorism
- Student: Sullivan Smith
- School: Chattanooga School for Arts and Sciences Upper School
- Educator: Kelly Davis
2nd Place Senior Individual Performance & Best Project in African American History
- Sponsored by the Planning Committee for the Nashville Conference on African American History and Culture
- Senior Division Winner
- Project: Watch What You Call Me
- tudent: Kameron Hayes
- School: McCallie School
- Educator: Duke Richey
2nd Place Senior Individual Paper
- Project: “Give me your tired, your poor…”? The Debate Regarding Jewish Holocaust Refugees to the United States
- Student: Cotton Snoddy
- School: McCallie School
- Educator: Duke Richey
These Hamilton County students also earned awards at the Tennessee History Day competition:
3rd Place Senior Individual Exhibit
- Project: The Death that Divided the Nation
- Student: Jonathan Manta
- School: McCallie School
- Educator: Duke Richey
3rd Place Senior Group Exhibit
- Project: The Grey Wolf; The Reintroduction of an Apex Predator and the Ecology of Yellowstone
- Students: David Moseley and Gordon Moseley
- School: McCallie School
- Educator: Duke Richey
3rd Place Senior Individual Website
- Project: Ping-Pong Diplomacy: How a Sport Softened United Sates-China Relations
- Student: Colin Carter
- School: McCallie School
- Educator: Duke Richey
Best Project in Tennessee History
- Sponsored by Humanities Tennessee
- Senior Division Winner - Senior Group Documentary
- Project: The Trial of the Century
- Students: Anay Patel and Noah Wyatt
- School: Chattanooga School for Arts and Sciences Upper School
- Educator: Kelly Davis
Mitchell Mielnik Memorial Prize for the Best Project in Sports, Recreation, or the Environment
- Sponsored by the Family and Friends of Mitchell Mielnik
- Senior Division Winner - Senior Individual Website
- Project: The Battle for Blue Lake: The Taos Pueblo’s Unparalleled Victory and a Unique Case in Federal Indian Policy
- Student: Sam Baker
- School: McCallie School
- Educator: Duke Richey
“Congratulations to every student who participated in this year’s Tennessee History Day competition and to the 61 students who are advancing to compete at National History Day,” Secretary of State Tre Hargett said. “I wish you the best of luck at National History Day. I know you will represent our great state well on the national stage."
History Day is a year-long competition in which students in grades 6-12 compete by submitting group or individual projects about people and events of historical significance. Each project is in one of five categories: documentaries, exhibits, performances, websites or papers and relates to this year’s theme, Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences.
“I am so proud of all of our Tennessee History Day students,” said Tennessee History Day coordinator Nikki Ward. “We have seen them challenge themselves in the topics they have chosen this year. Their continued dedication to research, analysis and creativity is impressive.”
The National History Day competition hosted virtually by the University of Maryland in College Park, Md., will take place will take place June 12-18, 2022. The Tennessee students advancing to the National History Day will compete with students from across the country for prestigious awards and scholarships.
Tennessee History Day is coordinated by the Tennessee Historical Society and sponsored by the Secretary of State, Humanities Tennessee, the Memorial Foundation and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. For more information about Tennessee History Day, visit tennesseehistory.org/tennessee-history-day/.