Kentucky’s National History Day District Eight Contest Winners

FRANKFORT, KY (March 27, 2009)— Several students won awards at the 2009 Kentucky’s National History Day (NHD) District Contest at Southeast Kentucky Technical and Community College, of Cumberland, Ky., on Friday, March 20. Four schools and over sixty students participated in the district eight contest in hopes of advancing to the state contest, which will be held April 18 in Frankfort.

Winner(s), School, Place, Division, Category, Project:
• Jacob Maynard, Timmy Lester, Matthew Thacker, Colby Justice; Pike County Central High School; first place; senior division; group documentary; “Unfinished: John Lennon”
• Jessica Parsons, Pike County Central High School, third place, senior division, paper; “Che Guevara: Moral Man, Malicious Militant, Misinterpreted Icon?”
• Andrea Blackburn, Pike County Central High School, second place, senior division, paper, “Deborah Sampson and the Revolutionary War”
• Georgetta Robinson, Pike County Central High School, first place, senior division, paper, “Remembering Margaret Sanger”
• Taylor Anderson, Pike County Central High School, second place, senior division, individual exhibit, “Reading Between the Lines: Analyzing the Diary of Anne Frank”
• Kaitlyn Williams, Kimberly Ray, Amanda Thacker, Candy Conn, Erica Williams; Pike County Central High School; third place; senior division; group exhibit; “Man on the Moon”
• Lana Bellamy, Austin Williamson, Chase Scott, Tyler Wright, Jordan Clevenger; Pike County Central High School; second place; senior division; group exhibit; “Lee Harvey Oswald: A Nightmare on Elm Street”
• Jasmine Brittany Stump, Megan Mullins, Brittany Boyd, Sarah Singleton; Pike County Central High School; first place; senior division; group exhibit; “Power Over Poverty: Bobby Kennedy Tours Appalachia”
• Jarrod Maynard, Nastosha Robinson, Chastity Robinson, Steven Runyon; Pike County Central High School; third place; senior division; web site; “Loretta Lynn: Country Music Legend”
• Marshall Miller, Tyler Blackburn, Donovan McCoy; Pike County Central High School; second place; senior division; web site; “The Times They are A-Changin: The Legacy of Bob Dylan”
• Mason Meade, Codie Miller, Danny Patiemo, Austin Collins; Pike County Central High School; first place; senior division; web site; “Timothy Leary: Two Projects, One Man”
• Isaiah Banks, Harlan County Christian School, first place and recipient of the Abraham Lincoln History Award, junior division, individual documentary, “Lincoln’s Legacy”
• Nick Saylor, Trenton Meister, Matthew Thomas; Harlan County Christian School; third place; junior division; group documentary; “Albert Einstein and the Atomic Bomb”
• Andrew Hatmaker, Jared Day; Harlan County Christian School; second place; junior division; group documentary; “Leonardo da Vinci: Then and Now”
• Michael Scott, Jeremy Bailey; Harlan County Christian School; first place; junior division; group documentary; “Harriet Tubman: The Civil War”
• Hannah Durbin, Model Laboratory, first place, junior division, web site, “Ronald Reagan: The Doomsday Clock Caretaker”
• Shai Boyd, Letcher County Central High School, third place, senior division, individual exhibit, “Ben Buster Taylor”
• Autumn Owsley, Letcher County Central High School, first place, senior division, individual exhibit, “William Wilberforce”
• Destini Fields, Letcher County Central High School, Kentucky History Award, senior division, “Sarah Ogan Gunning”

Students in grades six through eight competed in the junior division, and high school students competed in the senior division. Project categories included individual and group documentary, individual and group performance, individual and group exhibit, paper, and Web site. The top three finishers in each category received a medal and will advance to the state competition.

"Students who participate in National History Day not only achieve academically, but they also become very enthusiastic about history," says NHD state coordinator Kate Hesseldenz of the Kentucky Historical Society. "Students get so immersed in their topics that they become engaged with history."

The NHD program is an annual, year-long program designed to promote the teaching and learning of history in America's schools. Students analyze the historical significance of their topics and present conclusions in dramatic performances, imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries, Web sites, and research papers to audiences throughout the country.

In Kentucky, the program is coordinated by the Kentucky Historical Society. Each spring, district coordinators organize eight district contests, with around 2500 students participating in the program statewide, which lead to the state competition. The NHD program culminates with the national competition at the University of Maryland each June. The theme for this year’s contest is “The Individual in History: Actions and Legacies.”

For more information on Kentucky's National History Day, contact Kate Hesseldenz at 502-564-1792, ext. 4477.

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