Press Release
June 22, 2023
Contact: Sarah Dumas
Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 405-522-0785
sarah.dumas@history.ok.gov
www.okhistory.org/historyday
Oklahoma Students Win Awards at National History Day Competition
OKLAHOMA CITY — Nearly two dozen Oklahoma students won an award at the National History Day competition. They were part of the 2,600 students worldwide in grades 6-12 who competed at the University of Maryland at College Park from June 10-15. This year’s theme was “Frontiers in History: People, Ideas, and Events.” The participants chose one of five categories for their project: documentary, exhibit, paper, performance, or website.
The Oklahoma students who earned honors at the 2023 National History Day Competition are:
- First place nationwide in senior individual exhibit: Amanda Schoonmaker for “Forged by War: World War I’s Medical Legacy” (Canton High School – Penny Heath, teacher)
- Fifth place nationwide in senior paper: Wesley Horn for “The Christian Right in the 20th Century: Prominent Pioneers, Not Productive Policy-Makers” (Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics – Michelle McCargish, teacher)
- Seventh place nationwide in senior individual website: Adrian Pan for “The Chinese Exclusion Act: America’s First Racially-Based Immigration Policy” (Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics – Michelle McCargish, teacher)
- Honorable mention in junior group website: Bridger Hursh and Preston Foster for “Freedom 7: The Final Frontier” (Canton Elementary School – Penny Heath, teacher)
- Honorable mention in junior group performance and recipient of WWII history prize: Brooke Pope, Brooklyn Green and Harper Jones for “On the Homefront: How WWII Opened New Frontiers for Women” (Canton Elementary School – Penny Heath, teacher)
- Honorable mention in senior group exhibit: Kylie Carrasco and Nadia Luna for “Sylvia Earle” (Canton High School – Penny Heath, teacher)
- Honorable mention for junior paper: Emmy Xiang for “The Southern Cross Expedition: How One Mission Opened Up the Frontier of Antarctica” (Stillwater Junior High School – Jennifer Eckel, teacher)
- Honorable mention in senior individual performance and second place for Irish or Irish-American History senior level: Noah Ross for “Tom Crean: The Frontier Adventures of Ireland’s Iceman” (Canton High School – Penny Heath, teacher)
- Honorable mention for junior group performance and outstanding junior award in Oklahoma: Irilynn Jones, Keller Jones, Madison Unruh and Miley Unruh for “There’s No Crying in Baseball: The Women that Opened a Frontier of Opportunities” (Canton Elementary School – Dora Fuqua, teacher)
- Outstanding senior award in Oklahoma: McKinley Robedeaux, Mollie Noyes, Sarah Simons and Toni Williams for senior group documentary titled “Assimilation, Termination, Relocation: How the ‘New Frontier’ Shaped a Legacy of Violence’” (Morrison High School – Patty Sanders, teacher)
National History Day is a highly regarded academic program that is student-driven and fosters critical thinking. The cross-curricular program meets Oklahoma standards for social studies and other subjects. Each year thousands of Oklahoma students in grades 6-12 take part. The contestants advanced to the national contest after winning at Oklahoma National History Day, which was held in May at the Oklahoma History Center.
OkNHD is project-based learning that focuses on historical topics related to a theme. Students conduct extensive primary and secondary research through libraries, archives, museums and historic sites. After analyzing and interpreting their sources, students draw conclusions about their topic’s significance in history before presenting their work in original papers, exhibits, performances, websites and documentaries. Student projects are entered into competitions in the spring at regional, state and national contests, where professional historians and educators evaluate them.
The Oklahoma History Center is located at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Dr. in Oklahoma City. It is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Please call 405-522-0765 or visit www.okhistory.org/historycenter for admission costs and group rates.
The Oklahoma History Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, National Archives and is an accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.
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