Seventy Louisiana Students Qualify for National History Day Contest

Kilrain Popleon, Jalen Chatman, Ely'Asia Williams, and Amber Boutte stage a performance on the significance of Brown v. Board of Education

Seventy of Louisiana’s top history students will be competing in the National History Day Contest at the University of Maryland this June. These students qualified for the competition by placing first or second in one of 18 categories at the Louisiana History Day State Contest on Saturday, April 20. More than 1,200 students from all across Louisiana created projects for a series of competitions that begin at the school and regional level. Three hundred of these students competed at the State Contest in exhibit, paper, performance, documentary, and web site categories.

The theme of the Contest was “Turning Points in History.” Students were required to think critically about their chosen topics and communicate how their person, idea or event was a turning point in history. Students were very creative in choosing their topics, with projects ranging from an exhibit that detailed how the lives of people living with disabilities were fundamentally changed by the Americans with Disabilities Act to a documentary on Shakespeare’s impact on literary history.

From June 9-13, these seventy students will compete against their peers from all 50 state as well as and several US territories and international schools in Korea, East Asia, and South Asia, and several US territories.

Images from the Contest

Complete List of Winners

Junior Individual Exhibit

1. Renee Trepagnier
Americans with Disabilities Act: The Turning Point to Equality, Justice & Civil Rights
Catholic of Pointe Coupee

2. Aiden Edler
The Fall of the Berlin Wall & The Decline of the Soviet Empire
Andrew Jackson Middle School

Junior Individual Web Site

1. Aroosa Cheema
Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive
N.P. Trist Middle School

2. Brandon Rodriguez
Wal-Mart: The Movement of Manufacturing
N.P. Trist Middle School

Junior Individual Paper

1. Camille Loy
Chemotherapy as a Turning Point in History
Belle Chasse Middle School

2. Lauren Fidelak
Hiroshima: The Event that Changed the World
St. Mary’s Catholic School-Natchitoches

Junior Individual Documentary

1. Zandra Zemmels
“Where is Everybody? A Turning Point in Science Fiction”
Lusher Charter School

2. Michael Robinson
McDonalds and How it Changed Franchise Food History
Math, Science & Arts Academy West

Junior Individual Performance

1. Nohemi Lugo
Perspectives on the Louisiana Purchase
John Quincy Adams Middle School

Junior Group Exhibit

1. Riley Bordelon, Brooke Glaser, Nick Morel
The Forgotten War
Catholic of Pointe Coupee

2. Hadeel Kasji, Pamela Caseras, Naima Mohadi
Significant Turning Points in the Battle of New Orleans
John Quincy Adams Middle School

Junior Group Web Site

1. Sydney Neal, Amber Neal
Breaking the Chains of Bus Segregation
Math, Science and Arts Academy West

2. Minahil Khan, Elisabeth Garcia
Turning Points in the Central Pacific: Ambush at Pearl Harbor
John Quincy Adams Middle School

Junior Group Documentary

1. Anne Evans, Madelyn Peluso
The Dust Bowl
St. Mary’s Catholic School-Natchitoches

2.  Ethan Beaty, Jamie Young
Opening America’s Eyes
W.W. Lewis Middle School

Junior Group Performance

1. Jaydon Gibbs, Jonathan Gibbs, Cole Conrad, Nichole Feagin
Day of Infamy
S.P. Arnett Middle School

2. Kilrain Popleon, Jalen Chatman, Ely’Asia Williams, Amber Boutte
Brown v. Board of Education
Math, Science & Arts Academy West

Senior Individual Exhibit

1. Rachel Ellis
The Baton Rouge Bus Boycott
Math, Science & Arts Academy West

2. Jacquelyn Clark
The Manhattan Project
St. Mary’s Catholic School-Natchitoches

Senior Individual Web Site

1. John Cook-Moulin
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang
Pearl River High School

2. Cody David
Battle of Gettysburg
Math, Science, & Arts Academy West

Senior Individual Paper

1. Lionel Williams
March on Washington
New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School

2. David Girgis
The Flame that Changed America: Turning Points of the Chicago Fire- Prologue, Evolution & Aftermath
Helen Cox High School

Senior Individual Documentary

1. William Carothers
Shakespeare: How the Bard Changed History
Math, Science & Arts Academy West

2. Brennen Marcantel
The Revolution of Medieval War Tactics: Gunpowder
Math, Science & Arts Academy West

Senior Individual Performance

1. Zoe Zemmels
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Ben Franklin High School

2. Jordan C. Johnson
The Turning Point of One Man + One Dream = One America
Helen Cox High School

Senior Group Exhibit

1. Tien Huyn, Tyrin Stevenson, Anh Hoang
Rolling Revolution: How the Wheel Changed the World
Helen Cox High School

2. Julia Vanchiere, Victoria Brooks, Ben Maxey
The Vaccination of America: Vaccinations for Small Pox, Measles, and Polio as Turning Points in Public Health
Loyola College Prep

Senior Group Web Site

1. Cayman Cook, John Bradley Campo
The Maxim Machine Gun
Math, Science & Arts Academy West

2. Allyson Alexander, Seyth Boudreaux, Austyn Holtrop, Austin Vaughn
Ford Manufacturing Line
Math, Science & Arts Academy West

Senior Group Documentary

1. Cassidy Blank, Matthew Williams, Maelan Junot, Madeline Kirby
The Battle of Salamis
Math, Science and Arts Academy West

2. Kathy Nguyen, JCindy Simporios, Anna Hoang, Jasmine Paniagua, Bryana Bailey
Roe v. Wade: A Legacy of Law & Morality
Helen Cox High School

Senior Group Performance

1. Tan Nguyen, Hoang Nguyen, Randy Phan
Hip Hop Dance: A Turning Point in Pop Culture
Helen Cox High School

2.  Peyton Richard, Hailey Reaux, Rodney Johnson, Railyn Reaux, Selena Rousseau
The Women’s Rights Movement
Math, Science & Arts Academy West