[339] History Day Contest Organizers Announce District-wide Winners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 2010
CONTACT: Dr. Rebecca Conard, rconard@mtsu.edu or 615-898-2423
and Dr. Jan Leone at jmleone@mtsu.edu or 615-898-5580

HISTORY DAY CONTEST ORGANIZERS ANNOUNCE DISTRICT-WIDE WINNERS
Area Students Placing at Recent Event Will Advance to Statewide History Competition

(MURFREESBORO)—Eighty students in grades 6-12 claimed top spots at the ninth annual Middle Tennessee History Day Competition held at MTSU on Feb. 26. The district-level wins advances these students to statewide competition, reported Dr. Rebecca Conard, MTSU history professor.
“Each year, thousands of students across Tennessee research topics on a set theme—this year’s was Innovation in History—and create interpretive history projects in five different genres: exhibit, dramatic performance, documentary, Web site, and research essay,” Conard explained, regarding the recent MTSU-hosted event.
In addition to the presentation of bronze, silver and gold medals at the campus-based awards ceremony, participants also were treated to an address by Secretary of State Tre Hargett, who encouraged the 200-plus students assembled to think of themselves as the “leaders of tomorrow.”
Sponsored by MTSU’s College of Liberal Arts and history department, the Feb. 26 contest was one of four district competitions that determine which student participants will go on to compete at Tennessee History Day, which will take place April 17 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville, with the Tennessee Historical Society serving as host.
From there, Conard said, state winners will advance to the National History Day competition, sponsored by The History Channel and philanthropist Kenneth E. Behring.
Established in 1974, the National History Day educational program was designed to engage students in historical thinking through research, creativity and presentation.
A complete list of students, by category, who placed in the Feb. 26 regional event follows below. The students’ respective school information is included.


• Individual Exhibit

1 – Jonathan Tracy, Bellevue Middle School, Nashville (Amy Murphy), “Winchester Repeating Rifle”
2 – Kayle Kearns, Fred J. Page Middle School, Franklin (Stephanie Gilbert), “The Radio: A Godlike Presence”
3 – Josh Sadler, Fred J. Page Middle School, Franklin (Stephanie Gilbert), “The Otto Cycle Engine: Impact and Change”


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WINNERS
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• Group Exhibit

1 – Justin Yates, Jesse Holt, Patrick Perry, and Stetson Spain, Jo Byrns Middle School, Cedar Hill (Eric Hagen) “From the farm hand to the farm machine: Cotton Picking Machine”
2 – Devin Summers, Chase Hoke, and Travis Ferrell, Dekalb Middle School, Smithville (Tonya Sullivan), “Barbed Wire: Fencing the Future”
3 – Brittany Wilkerson and Kaitlyn Jones, Dekalb Middle School, Smithville (Anita Puckett), “Photography”

• Interpretive Web site (Individual and Group, combined)

1 – Lagnajita Mukhopadhyay, Head Middle Mathematics-Science Magnet School, Nashville (Frances Watkins), “Disney: Impact of Dream, Change in Reality”
2 – Deepak Subramanian, Fred J. Page Middle School, Franklin (Suzi Constantine), “Internal Combustion Engine”
3 – Caleb Wallace, Bennett Mayes, and Daniel Kohls, Bellevue Middle School, Nashville (Amy Murphy), “The History of the Wheel”


• Research Paper

1 – Charlie Stewart, Bellevue Middle School, Nashville (Amy Murphy), “Underground Railroad”
2 – Angel Peterson, Jo Byrns Middle School, Cedar Hill (Eric Hagan), “Anesthesia: Improving Health, Progressing Life”
3 – Jordan Wilkins, Dekalb Middle School, Smithville (Tonya Sullivan), “The United States Constitution”

• Group Documentary

1 – Zahra Rasulli, Jelezeaye German, and Hailey Butt, Bellevue Middle School, Nashville (Amy Murphy), “Hammurabi’s Code”
2 – Ethan Todd and Zane Smith, Bellevue Middle School, Nashville (Amy Murphy), “The History of Toilets”
3 – Taylor Cantrell, Taneah Cantrell, and Cori Jennings, Dekalb Middle School, Smithville (Tonya Sullivan), “Women’s Suffrage”


Senior-level Winners

• Individual Exhibit

1 – Katherine Roland, Hume Fogg Academic Magnet School, Nashville (Allison Halbrook), “The Guillotine”
2 – Martelia Tallent, Dekalb County High School, Smithville (John Isabell), “The Discovery of Insulin: A Medical Miracle”
3 – Emily Davidson, Dekalb County High School, Smithville (John Isabell), “The World’s Most Precious Paper”

• Group Exhibit

1 – Marquisha Gooch and Alex Alford, Hume Fogg Academic Magnet, Nashville (Allison Halbrook), “The Telephone”
2 – Ethen Holden and Josh Dodd, Watertown High School (Barbara Marks), “Tanks: The Innovation and Invention”
3 – Quan Jones, Rashad Taylor, and Ye’rum Chun, Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet-Pearl High School, Nashville (Fred Artibee), “The History of Electronic Television”


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WINNERS
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• Individual Performance

1 – Laura-Kate Gonyea, West Harpeth Christian Tutorial, Franklin (Sharon Wilharm), “Sally Thomas”

• Group Performance

1 – Elijah Wilson, Erin Amlicke, Hannah Park, Helen Shi, and Isaiah Bolden, Martin Luther King Jr., Magnet-Pearl High School, Nashville (Fred Artibee), “Vaccination: The Musical”

• Interpretive Web site (Individual and Group, combined)

1 – Amanda Mouser, Megan Mouser, Lucy Hui, and Jacqueline Husin, Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet-Pearl High School (Fred Artibee), “Anesthesia: A Revolution in Modern Surgery”
2 – Lindsay Free, Hume Fogg Academic Magnet, Nashville (Allison Halbrook), “Weapons”
3 – Brandon Johnson, Cody West, T.J. Jones, and A.J. Larocco, Watertown High School, Watertown (Virginia Laudeman), “Dams”


• Research

1 – Jacob Schiftan, University School of Nashville (Patricia Miletich), “Surgery and Anesthetics”
2 – Thalia Spinrad, University School of Nashville (Patricia Miletich), “Scientology and Spirituality in the Mid-Twentieth Century”
3 – Daniel Tribble, Lebanon High School (Carrie Pfeiffer), “Nothing but Crows and Methodist Preachers”


• Individual Documentary

1 – Rita Pfeiffer, Hume Fogg Academic Magnet, Nashville (Allison Halbrook), “The Radio”
2 – Brittany Wilharm, West Harpeth Christian Tutorial, Franklin (Sharon Wilharm), “From Beheadings to Pandora: 114 Years in the Evolution of Special Effects”
3 – Caroline Rhodes, Lebanon High School (Carrie Pfeiffer), “The Polio Vaccine: More than a Syringe”

• Group Documentary

1 – Xidi Ma and Brandon Holt, Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet-Pearl High School, Nashville (Fred Artibee), “The Nashville Sit Ins”
2 – Tabitha Johnson and Katelyn Eder, Martin Luther King Jr., Magnet-Pearl High School, Nashville (Fred Artibee), “The Evolution of Computers”
3 – Eric Borzak, Toni Friedman, and Allison Horick, Hume Fogg Academic Magnet, Nashville (Allison Halbrook), “the Internet”


For more information, please contact Conard at rconard@mtsu.edu or by calling
615-898-2423 or Dr. Jan Leone at jmleone@mtsu.edu or 615-898-5580.


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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.