Sierra Vista Middle School students Mia Berryman and Masia Creamer perform their category-winning project, “Digging for Change: The Ludlow Miners and their Revolutionary Fight for Reforms” at NHD-CA. 
OCDE Coordinator Julie Hull poses with Sierra Vista Middle School students who participated in the NHD-CA contest May 3. 
Orange County School of the Arts students celebrate their participation in the National History Day – California competition. 
Portola High School student Francesca Holland receives the Individual in History Prize for her project, “The Freudian Revolution: How Reactions to Psychoanalysis Led to Reforms in Therapy.” 
Northwood High School students pose with their finalist ribbons at the NHD-CA competition. 
OCDE’s NHD-OC Coordinators Virginia Reischl and Julie Hull pose with the NHD-CA mascot at the state finals May 3. 
Sierra Vista Middle School students Aryan Shah, Krish Marfatia, Kaito Yamashita and Davis Barbee win the Stephenson Family Award for Sports History at the NHD-CA contest earlier this month.
Quick look: Twenty-one young local historians are headed to nationals next month after a standout performance at the National History Day-California contest, earning 15 championship titles.
Orange County students once again emerged among California’s top young historians, earning a state-leading 36 awards at this year’s National History Day-California competition.
Student projects from elementary through high school claimed 15 championship titles earlier this month, along with seven runner-up finishes, five honorable mentions and nine special awards at the statewide contest, which drew more than 1,600 participants from 276 schools representing 27 counties. Orange County earned more awards than any other county in California, with Riverside and San Diego counties followed with 24 and 22 awards, respectively.
Under this year’s theme, “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History,” students studied how people throughout history sparked change and how societies responded, researching topics ranging from labor movements and educational reform to investigative journalism and public health crises.
Dozens of fourth- through 12th-graders spent months conducting research, analyzing sources, holding interviews, and crafting projects before presenting their findings in the form of documentaries, exhibits, websites, podcasts, posters and performances.
“The talent and passion displayed by Orange County students at the state competition was extraordinary,” said Julie Hull, NHD-OC Coordinator at OCDE. “We congratulate all participants and especially the many champions who will continue their journey at nationals this June in Maryland.”
In addition to being honored by project category, nine local student projects received special awards for excellence in specific historical focuses including sports history and California landmarks. A complete list of the special award recipients is available on the NHD-CA website.
Next month, Orange County’s junior and senior division first-place winners will travel to the University of Maryland, College Park to showcase their historical findings at the National History Day National Contest. Representing nearly one-third of California’s national qualifiers, the Orange County scholars will compete June 14 to June 18 in preliminary and final judging rounds alongside participants from across the country, U.S. territories and international schools around the world.
Each year, approximately half a million students participate in National History Day at the local, state and national levels, engaging with in-depth historical research and developing projects that connect the past to today’s world and their own lives.
The following Orange County projects from the elementary, junior and senior divisions were named champions at the state competition:
Elementary Champions (Grades 4-5)
Individual Poster
“Claus von Stauffenberg: His Failed Revolution, the Brutal Reaction and the Reform of the German Hero”
Mateo Sanchez Caero
Olinda Elementary School, Brea-Olinda Unified School District
Coach Jill Berrner
Group Poster
“Boston Tea Party”
Neha Ravindran, Arjun Patel, Emma Lebrilla, Charlie Steward, Nathaniel Mao
Olinda Elementary School, Brea-Olinda Unified School District
Coach Jill Berrner
Individual Podcast
“Ryszard Kuklinski”
Jaden Chi
Olinda Elementary School, Brea-Olinda Unified School District
Coach Jill Berrner
Junior Champions (Grades 6-8)
Individual Documentary
“From Revolution to Reform: Action to Reaction in the Third World Liberation Front”
Joy Yan-Li
Venado Middle School, Irvine Unified School District
Coach Hector Gamboa
Individual Exhibit
“A Spark and a Slow Burn: The Monongah Mine Disaster”
Hannah Hsiao
Sierra Vista Middle School, Irvine Unified School District
Coach Lianne Linck
“Revolutionary Words: Jovita Idar’s Journalism, Reaction and Struggle for Reform”
Oliver Wiechmann
Sierra Vista Middle School, Irvine Unified School District
Coach Lianne Linck
Group Exhibit
“Warrior of the Word: Maxine Hong Kingston’s Literary Revolution” (Special award: Asian American and Pacific Islander History Prize)
Sophie Bi, Sharon Yitong Qian, Kylee Xiong
Sierra Vista Middle School, Irvine Unified School District
Coach Lianne Linck
Individual Performance
“Threads of Change: Revolution of the Loom, Reaction of the Workers, Reform in Code”
Aria Yatavelli
Sierra Vista Middle School, Irvine Unified School District
Coach Lianne Linck
Group Performance
“Digging for Change: The Ludlow Miners and their Revolutionary Fight for Reforms” (Special award: Labor History Prize)
Mia Berryman, Masia Creamer
Sierra Vista Middle School, Irvine Unified School District
Coach Lianne Linck
Group Podcast
“Drawing the Line: Proposition 13 and the California Property Tax Revolution”
Daniel Lu, Zixin Zhao
Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, Irvine Unified School District
Coach Aghassi Gharadaghian
Senior Champions (Grades 9-12)
Individual Documentary
“Education Liberation: How the Black Panther Party’s Oakland Community School Revolutionized Education for Marginalized Students” (Special award: Bushong Award for Social Justice Legacy and the California Historic Places Award)
Nicholas Soo
Irvine High School, Irvine Unified School District
Coach Jennifer Harrington
Individual Exhibit
“The Day Iceland Stood Still: From National Reaction to Global Revolution and Reform”
Yesha Gupta
Northwood High School, Irvine Unified School District
Coach Deanna Myers
Individual Performance
“Has New York Many Walking Pesthouses? Revolution, Reaction, and Reform Through the Story of Typhoid Mary”
Kylee West
Orange County School of the Arts
Coach Nancy Alcala
Group Podcast
“Contamination to Regulation: Revolution, Reaction, and Reform in the American Meatpacking Industry”
Sarie Kwak, Moksha Kolli
Northwood High School, Irvine Unified School District
Coach Deanna Myers
Group Website
“A Beep in the Sky, A Revolution Below: The Sputnik Crisis and the Reformation of American
Education”
Annie Kwak, Carson Lv, Aadhi Suresh
Northwood High School, Irvine Unified School District
Coach Deanna Myers
Learn more about National History Day – Orange County by visiting OCDE’s NHD-OC webpage.