Greenwich HS Students Take First Place Prizes in History Competition

From Greenwich Schools: Greenwich High School (GHS) will be well represented at National History Day, June 11-15 at the University of Maryland, as student projects took three of nine available First Place prizes in the Senior Division at the State Competition, held Saturday at Central Connecticut State University. The theme of this year’s contest is Taking a Stand in History.

In Senior Individual Website, Junior Michelle Xiong took first place for “Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr: A Politician’s Stand for Japanese American Rights During World War II.”

In Senior Group Documentary, the team of Juniors Jake Karetsky, Bennett Tiedy, Catherine Veronis, and Sara Stober took first place for “‘What Damage We Can’: Taking a Stand Against Imperial Japan.”

Xiong, Karetsky, Tiedy, Veronis and Stober are from the GHS We The People: The Citizen and the Constitution program, led by Coach Aaron Hull.

In Senior Group Performance, Juniors Flora Dievenich Braes, Sofia Dodaro, Katherine Hurst, and Nicole Wood, took first place for “Constance Baker Motley: Standing With the Civil Rights Movement to Advance the Case for Equality.”

Dievenich Braes, Dodaro, Hurst and Wood are students in the GHS Innovation Lab, instructed by Humanities Teachers Michael Belanger, Courtney Hawes, and Christina Shaw.

The nine first place winners are invited to take their projects to the National competition in June.

According to Mr. Hull, “This group showed dedication, remarkable stamina, and persistence to gain access to significant primary sources, and the ability to coalesce this material into cogent and powerful narratives. The relevance of Michelle’s work on Ralph Lawrence Carr in today’s political climate is a remarkable testament to the power of history to educate; additionally, the more I watch “What Damage We Can,” the harder it becomes to fight back tears at the stunningly brave sacrifice of the 1500 sailors of the Taffy 3 Group off Samar. Wow.”

Ms. Shaw observed, “Flora, Sofia, Katherine, and Nicole demonstrate a true passion for women’s and local history, as illustrated by their NHD projects this year and last. Their attention to detail and dedication to scholarship is proven by the fact that they visited not one, but two university libraries--at Columbia and Smith--in order to complete their research.”

Also in Senior Group Performance, Sophomores Jody Bell, Sophie Anderlind, and Benjamin Wolff took third place for “Virginia Hall: Taking a Stand As A Female Spy With Actions Not Words.”

In Senior Individual Documentary, Junior Kathryn Papas earned the Special Prize, “Outstanding Entry Related to a Connecticut Woman,” Sponsored by the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, for “Maria Sanchez: Taking a Stand for Bilingual Education and Puerto Rican Rights.”

Anderlind, Bell, Papas and Wolff are also students in the GHS Innovation Lab, instructed by Humanities teachers Michael Belanger, Courtney Hawes, and Christina Shaw.

Ms. Shaw added, “Despite obstacles faced due to scarcity of available sources and technological glitches, Kathryn Papas overcame the odds to bring the story of Maria Sanchez, a revolutionary in bilingual education for the Hartford Schools, to life. Her dedication to women’s history made her well deserving of the special prize she received.”

About the Connecticut History Day Program: Connecticut History Day is a program for students in grades 6-12 that encourages exploration of local, state, national, and world history. After selecting a historical topic that relates to an annual theme, students conduct extensive research using libraries, archives, museums, and oral history interviews. Students analyze and interpret their findings, draw conclusions about their topic's significance in history, and create final projects that demonstrate their work. These projects can be entered into a series of competitions, from the local to the national level, where professional historians and educators evaluate them. Connecticut History Day is one of 57 affiliate programs of the highly regarded National History Day program.

Photo courtesy of Greenwich HS (Clockwise from bottom left: Michelle Xiong, Katherine Hurst, Sofia Dodaro, Bennett Tiedy, Catherine Veronis, Jake Karetzky, Aaron Hull. Photo by Aaron Hull)