April Update: State Qualifiers Announced

After the regional competition, several middle school groups and individual earned the opportunity to compete at State History Day. Numerous others were named honorable mentions, which can be awarded by the judges for a variety of reasons related to excellence in the project or the process of creating the entry. Honorable Mention entries receive a ribbon, but are not runners up to State Qualifiers and are not ranked.

The list below has been updated to depict these designations, and group photos have been added.

State History Day will be held on Sunday, April 19 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Congratulations, and best of luck to all those advancing!

Original Story Published 3/5:

After impressing the judges with their research during the school-wide competition, 35 Big Lake Middle School groups earned the opportunity to represent Big Lake at the Central Minnesota Regional History Day competition.

The event will be held on Saturday, March 21, at Saint Cloud State University, where students will compete for the chance to move on to the State competition.

National History Day (NHD) is a national program that encourages students to explore historical research. Students choose a topic centered around the annual theme, and then spend months conducting research, analyzing and interpreting their findings, and coming to conclusions about their topics’ significance in history. It all culminates at the NHD school competition, where students present their work to volunteer judges.

This year’s theme was “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History,” purposefully coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

As always, this event was a display of some amazing work. Congratulations to all participants for a job well done!

Regional Qualifiers:

* = State Qualifier | + = Regional Honorable Mention

Group Exhibit:

• Kieran Dunkle & Emma Regnier: Marie Curie +
• Briella Davong & Amelia Broermann: All American Baseball 
• Mahlia Bulger & Natalie Rowe: Mother Jones 
• Nora Graff & Adalee Johnson: Barbie 
• Jeston Miller & Robby White: Savannah Bananas
• Jojo Williams & Rylie Rettman: 1964 Civil Rights 

Individual Exhibit:

• Macklin Gessell: Thomas Edison 
• Brooke Fore: Nellie Bly +
• Mikayla Jerome: The Dartmouth Conference and The Birth of AI *
• Tatum Jerome: The End of Apartheid in South Africa
• Lola Bieniek: Pinkerton Detective Agency
• Will Prins: James J. Hill
• Sophie Spurgin: Prison Labor
• Brooklyn Morrison: John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil
• Eleanor Garing-Sharpe: The Gilbert Baker Pride Flag +
• Lily Skinner: Tylenol Murders
• Laney Langevin: White Rose Girls
• Kaia Loegering: Education in the Industrial Revolution

Group Documentary:

• Chloe Olson & Mia Phelps: Nellie Bly and Stunt Journalism: The paper that reformed mental health and women's journalism *
• Owen Visser & Elliot Calgaro: 1st Scottish War
• Jersey Gust & Samantha Schneider: Roosevelt Football Rules

Individual Documentary: 

• Serenity Elliott: Harvey Milk
• Ivy Maxson: The American Revolution

Group Website:

• Alice Klein & Dani Jensen: Jackie Robinson

Individual Website: 

• Clara Devine: Radium Girls
• Arianna Cano Fernandini: Black Death +
• Carter Brausen: Miracle on Ice
• Reese Fontaine: Pearl Harbor

Individual Paper: 

• Hannah Nepsund: Mother Jones and Labor Rights +
• Vanessa Potter: Title IX
• Ayla Roberts: Nikola Tesla
• Harper Corrick: Dancing Plague of 1518: The Dance To Die For
• Aubrey Linder: Here Comes The Sun: How The Beatles Brightened and Revolutionized the Future of Music, Culture, and the People +

Individual Podcast: 

• Lola Foner: Coco Chanel v. Dior
• Zoe Surma: The Endangered Species Act: The act that reformed people's point of view on the wilderness *

Group Performance:

• Tori Quarberg & Elise Warnke: Seneca Falls Convention *
• Maria Wilfahrt & Lyla Calgaro: Boston Tea Party +
• Caitlyn Dierks & Jacey Dilger: The Rise of Google