Quick look: Two Acaciawood Preparatory Academy students received the $2,000 Outstanding Middle School Project Award in the 2025 Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes Discovery Award competition for their documentary on Doss v. Bernal, an early Orange County case that challenged housing segregation.
Two Acaciawood Preparatory Academy students have been recognized with a national award for a documentary film about housing segregation in Orange County.
Poiema Bernier and Lucas Menendez received the $2,000 Outstanding Middle School Project Award in the 2025 Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes Discovery Award competition. Guided by coaches Carolin Menendez and Jessica Bernier, their documentary, “Mi Casa Es Mi Casa: Alex Bernal’s Fight for Housing Desegregation,” focuses on a Mexican American couple who challenged racially restrictive housing covenants in the 1940s.
Earlier this year, Bernier and Menendez collaborated with classmates Rebekah Miller and Enoch Wu on a National History Day project about the case Doss v. Bernal. That documentary placed fifth in the junior group documentary category at the National History Day finals, earned a special Latino American History Award and was selected for the Documentary Showcase at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
Building on past work
For the Discovery Award competition, Bernier and Menendez developed a separate version of the project that expanded their research and focused more directly on Alex Bernal’s role. The students produced a new version of the documentary that incorporated additional research, interviews and historical context to meet the contest requirements.
In 1943, Alex Bernal and his wife, Esther, purchased a home in Fullerton but were challenged in court by neighbors seeking to enforce a racially restrictive covenant. In Doss v. Bernal, a Superior Court judge ruled in the Bernals’ favor, making the case one of the earliest legal victories against residential segregation of Mexican Americans in the United States. Historians note that the case helped establish legal arguments later used in Mendez v. Westminster and Shelley v. Kraemer.
“For me, just learning about Alex Bernal’s story really showed me that you should stand up for what you believe in,” said Lucas. “It also showed me that most of the things we enjoy now, like housing without discrimination, for example, are because of people like Alex Bernal and cases like Shelley v. Kramer and the Fair Housing Act. This story really shows that sometimes big things have smaller beginnings.”
National contest
The Discovery Award invites students in grades four through 12 to research and share the stories of individuals whose contributions are often overlooked. Entries can take the form of documentaries, performance or websites.
“NHD-OC is so proud of Poiema and Lucas for receiving national recognition through the Lowell Milken Center’s Discovery Award,” said Julie Hull, OCDE’s coordinator of National History Day–Orange County. “Their documentary on Alex Bernal highlights an important and often overlooked story of courage and justice, and it reflects the power of students using research and storytelling to honor unsung heroes.”
The full documentary is featured on the Lowell Milken Center’s Discovery Award site.