Northshore Students Shine During National History Day State Competition

Congratulations to Northshore’s middle and high school students who competed virtually in the 2020 Washington state National History Day Contest. The final results were shared during a virtual awards ceremony on May 2. Students who placed first or second will advance to the National Contest, which will be held virtually in June. Students were also recognized through special awards, given by the event sponsors.

Students chose a historical topic related to this year’s theme: Breaking Barriers in History. Once their topic was selected they conducted primary and secondary research to analyze and draw a conclusion about the significance of their chosen topic. They presented their work at the state competition in one of five ways: a paper, exhibit, performance, documentary or website. Five hundred eighty-nine students participated, 333 entries were submitted and 74 schools were represented at the state event. 

Students were judged on three main criteria: historical accuracy, relation to the theme and clarity of presentation. Students were also required to follow the rules requirements for each category such as word counts and time restrictions.

Special Awards:

• National Maritime Historical Society Award (Senior Division): 
  • Samarth Venkatesh and Alex Dimov, Senior Group Website, "Breaking Barriers Constructing Commerce" Bothell High School, Teacher: Dori Wuepper

• Lyle M. Nelson Research Award (Junior Division): 
  • Cooper Brix, Junior Individual Exhibit, "The Battle of Yorktown: Breaking the British Empire's Invincibility". Leota Middle School, Teacher: Kathleen Hartman
     
• Lyle M. Nelson Research Award (Senior Division): 
  • Samarth Venkatesh and Alex Dimov, Senior Group Website, "Breaking Barriers Constructing Commerce" Bothell High School, Teacher: Dori Wuepper
     
• Washington State Archives Regional/Local History Award (Senior Division): 
  • Haley van Meurs, Liana Moldavanu, Isabelle Garrard, Senior Group Exhibit, "The Fight Against Segregated Seattle: How the Seattle Open Housing Campaign Broke Barriers of Inequality" Inglemoor High School, Teachers: Alan Plummer and Corey Martin
     
• Chinese History Merit Scholar Award (Junior Division)
  • David Lu, Junior Research Paper, "Nixon’s Visit to China: Diplomacy That Revolutionized the Cold War" Northshore Middle School, Teacher: Alan Plummer
     
• Frances Anderson Backus Award for Women’s History (Junior Division)
  • Allan Xuan, Junior Research Paper, "Wangari Maathai: The Barrier She Broke for a Greener and More Just World" Leota Middle School, Teacher: John Moore

Finalists:

Junior Individual Website

• 2nd: Tanya Bhandari, "Breaking Barriers to Discover Who We Are: The Human Genome Project ", Leota Middle School, Teacher: John Moore
• 6th: Monica Depaula, "The Rise of the Smallpox Vaccine" Northshore Middle School, Teacher: Alan Plummer
• 8th: Klaira Zhang, "The Start of a Revolution in Astrophysics: Cecilia Payne and Her Groundbreaking Discoveries",  Northshore Middle School, Teacher: Alan Plummer

Junior Group Website

• 7th: Ella Hall and Saisha Lakkoju, "Breaking the Barrier of Segregation: The Montgomery Bus Boycott", Canyon Park Middle School, Teacher: Craig Tupper
• 8th: Sophia Kam and Audrey Tudor, "Loving v. Virginia: How one Couple Changed the Meaning of Love", Timbercrest Middle School, Teacher: Kim Matthews

Junior Individual Performance 

• 4th: Sarah Vannoy, "Breaking Barriers: How John Muir Preserved Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley ", Timbercrest Middle School, Teacher: Kim Matthews
• 6th: Nina Pizzuto, "One Chocolate Bar, One Man, One World Changed: Milton Hershey", Northshore Middle School, Teacher: Corey Martin

Junior Group Performance

• 2nd: Catherine Bouvet, Natalia Canal, Aylin Dutt, Emma Oleynikova, "Breaking Barriers: The Race To The South Pole", Northshore Middle School, Teacher: Corey Martin
• 3rd: Anna Hampton, Noor Khalidi, Charlotte Kovacich, Megumi Okamoto, "Lorraine Hansberry: Staging a Revolution", Timbercrest Middle School, Teacher: Kim Matthews

Junior Individual Documentary

• 2nd: Dhriti Manjunath, "No Longer Awake During Surgery: How Anesthesia Broke Barriers in Medical Operations", Leota Middle School, Teacher: John Moore
• 4th: Vibhaakshayaa Sathish Kumar, "Barbara McClintock: Jumping Barriers with Jumping Genes", Skyview Middle School, Teacher: James Wilkowski

Junior Individual Exhibit

• 1st: Cooper Brix, "The Battle of Yorktown: Breaking the British Empire's Invincibility", Leota Middle School, Teacher: Kathleen Hartman

Junior Research Paper

• 1st: Annie Song, "Surrealism: Capturing the Absurd, Inspired by Dreams" Northshore Middle School, Teacher: Alan Plummer
• 4th: Matthew Ng, "Breaking the Enigma, Winning the War " , Timbercrest Middle School, Teacher: Kim Matthews
• 5th: Allan Xuan, "Wangari Maathai: The Barriers She Broke for a Greener and More Just World " , Leota Middle School, Teacher: John Moore

Senior Individual Website

• 4th: Mathangi Sriram,"Bertha Landes: Breaking Gender Barriers in Politics", North Creek High School, Teacher: Rhonda McGee

Senior Group Website

• 1st: Samarth Venkatesh and Alex Dimov, "Breaking Barriers Constructing Commerce" Bothell High School, Teacher: Dori Wuepper

Senior Group Exhibit

• 1st: Haley van Meurs, Liana Moldovanu, Isabelle Garrard, "The Fight Against Segregated Seattle: How the Seattle Open Housing Campaign Broke Barriers of Inequality" Inglemoor High School, Teachers: Alan Plummer and Corey Martin

Senior Research Paper

• 1st: Andrew Da, "The Limping Lady: Breaking Down Barriers, Climbing Towards Freedom", North Creek High School, Teacher: Alan Plummer