Huntington students shined at this year’s National History Day exhibition and awards ceremony in the high school auditorium. A sensational array of projects spread across a variety of research areas captivated an audience of more than 300.
The teenagers spent months developing their entries and took delight in the attention that was showered upon them during the awards ceremony.
Participants vied in categories ranging from research papers to individual and group websites, exhibits and documentaries. This year’s national theme was “Breaking Barriers in History.”
Teams of teachers served as judges for each category and spent hours evaluating the projects, which were displayed in the auditorium lobby prior to the announcement of this year’s award winners.
The annual history initiative seeks to make history more relevant for students and requires them to use a variety of practical and creative skills during the development of their projects.
Huntington High School social studies teacher Lauren Desiderio coordinates the annual initiative along with the History Day club, of which she serves as faculty advisor. The organization’s executive board consists of Madelyn Kye (president), Natalie Ciccone (vice president), Abby Semelsberger (treasurer), Neil Jean-Baptiste (recording secretary), Julien Rentsch (corresponding secretary), Kyra DeSalvo (historian) and administrative assistants Claudia Villatoro, Maggie Lalor and Moira Contino.
“Every year National History Day frames students’ research within a historical theme,” Mrs. Desiderio said. “This year, it was very exciting to see them introduce a brand new theme: Breaking Barriers in History. This theme was broad enough that it allowed our students to choose topics that were not only of high personal interest, but were also very unique. Our National History Day program continues to foster a passion for learning and a love of history. By far this year’s entries included some of the most interesting topics that I can recall. I was especially impressed with student projects that had connections to their personal family histories, lesser known individuals in history and also a variety of local Long Island topics such as Jupiter Hammon.”
The top place finishers in the recent local competition are headed to the Long Island regional finals at Hofstra University on Sunday, March 29. Students are able incorporate suggestions made by local judges to improve their projects.
The state championship is set for Monday, April 27 in Cooperstown. The national finals will be held June 14-18 at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Mrs. Desiderio puts her heart and soul into the history initiative. She’s optimistic about the chances of many Huntington students in the regional competition and beyond.
Spending hours each week developing their entries was an often difficult task for this year’s contest participants as individuals and groups took on some weighty topics.
“We look forward to continue the winning tradition that Huntington has established at the regional, state and national levels,” Mrs. Desiderio said. “Our students have risen to the occasion and have produced quality researched projects that I know will represent our district well at the regional level in March. I am very proud of each and every student who competed this year, especially our first year participants."
2020 National History Day Award Winners
Senior Division
Individual Performance:
1st: Temple Grandin: Being a Visionary and Thinking Visually
Sarah Biernacki
Historical Paper:
3rd: Cian Jian: Circumventing the Barrier of Chinese Censorship Through Rock and Roll
Madelyn Kye
2nd: Integration in Malverne, New York: Barriers to Equal Education
Grace Wildermuth
1st: Nellie Bly: The Girl Who Cried “Muckraker”
Tess Stanley
Individual Exhibit:
3rd: The Navajo Code Talkers: Breaking Barriers with their Unbreakable Code
Cassidy Casabona
2nd: Alan Turing: Breaking the Enigma Code
Sophie Bradford
1st: Amelia Earhart: The Feminist Flyer
Theadora Carnesi
Group Exhibit:
3rd: Lois Weber: Breaking Barriers in History
Allison Malone and Cecilia Kye
2nd: Wangari Maathai: Breaking Barriers One Tree at a Time
Izabela Cuji and Lauren Gennarelli
1st: Nellie Bly: Shattering the Glass Ceiling One Headline at a Time
Katie Brown, Emily Geller and Christopher Maichin
Individual Documentary:
3rd: The Development of Music Therapy
Sophia Matheus
2nd: Star Trek: Shifting Cultural Norms
Keira Francis
1st: WASP in WWII: Shattering Gender Stereotypes
Allison Quinn
Group Documentary:
3rd: Breaking Barriers in History: Pope John Paul II
Kianna Criscuola and Emily Plachta
2nd: The Walt Disney Company: Advancing Animation for the Future
Morgan Colleluori, Alexis Kaloudis and Sophia Toscano
1st: The Artistic Power of West Side Story
Ally Kustera and Emily Roberts
Individual Website:
3rd: Elinor Smith: The Flying Flapper of Freeport
Chloe Buffone
2nd: The Disability Rights Movement
Emma Hannigan
1st: Wendell Smith: The Fight for Racial Equality on and off the Field
Haileigh Smith
Group Website:
3rd: Breaking Barriers in History: Bilingual Education in the U.S.
Erik Flores and Hannah Roberts
2nd: Miracle in the Mold: Penicillin Breaking Barriers in Medicine
Talia Addeo, Laurel Bonn and McKenna Buffa
1st: Evolving Standards of Decency: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty for Minors
Erin Ye, Ella Siepel, Valerie Rogel and Andrew McKenzie
Senior Division Special Awards
African-American History Award:
Group Website
Mary Jackson: Breaking Barriers and Engineering a Better Future
Victoria Mangan and Mary Grace Rorke
American Labor History:
Individual Exhibit
Lewis Wicks Hine: Photographs that Forever Changed Child Labor in America
Lauren Landolfi
Citizen Activist Award:
Group Documentary
The Young Lords: Breaking Barriers
Nicholas Tudisco, Joey Nicotra, Andreas Seferian and Ethan Franciscovich
White House History Award:
Group Website
Not Just the President’s Wife: How First Ladies Broke the Barrier in Their Role for Advocacy
Ainsley Proctor and Tallulah Pitti
Equality in History Award:
Group Exhibit
Billie Jean King
Taylor Case, Ainsley Lumpe, Timmeree Koepele and Charlotte Maggio
Genocide, Bias, & Tolerance Award:
Group Documentary
Zookeepers of Warsaw
Sarah Krisch and Megan Donaghy
Presidential History Award:
Group Documentary
The Watergate Scandal: Breaking the Public’s Trust in Government
Grace Colavecchio and Madeleine Gabriel
Physical Sciences Technology Award:
Individual Exhibit
How the Radio Changed the World
Ella Kamenstein
Irish History Award:
Group Website
Connaught Rangers
Fiona Brosnan and Aislyn Franciscovich
Latino-American History Award:
Group Website
Breaking Barriers in History: Bilingual Education in the U.S.
Erik Flores and Hannah Roberts
Military History Award:
Group Website
The Army Air Cushion Vehicle: A Military Combat Vehicle Breaking Barriers
Laura Curtin and Anna Bell Young
Native American History:
Individual Exhibit
The Navajo Code Talkers: Breaking Barriers with their Unbreakable Code
Cassidy Casabona
Sports History Award:
Group Documentary
Jesse Owens: Standing Against Superiority
Matthew Beasley and Henry Vohs
U.S. Constitution Award:
Group Exhibit
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Katie Renkewitz, Zadie Lauer and Gracie Renkewitz
Women’s History:
Group Exhibit
The Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania: How Women Opened the Forever Locked Doors to the Medical Field
Renee McKean, Victoria Befumo and Markella Markotsis
Discovery or Exploration in History:
Group Exhibit
Apollo 11
Gianna Forte, Jordan Rund, Erin Scanlon, Sophia Thompson and Neha Rathore
Best Topic in Global History 9th Grade:
Group Exhibit
Two Women, One Dream
Grace Allen and Jillian Panos
Best Topic in Global History 10th Grade:
Individual Paper
Perestroika: The Movement that Destroyed the Iron Curtain
Fiorella Benitez
Best Topic in American History 11th Grade:
Historical Paper
How the King James Bible Increased Revolutionary Spirit in the American Colonies
Aaron Chin
Clio Award:
Group Exhibit
Wangari Maathai: Breaking Barriers One Tree at a Time
Izabela Cuji and Lauren Gennarelli
Jack Abrams Local History Award:
Group Website
Jupiter Hammon: A Pioneer of African-American Literature
Jake Burton, Luke Rinaldi and Richard Zboray
Principal’s Award:
Individual Exhibit
Charles Loring Brace: Revolutionizing Protection for the Forgotten Children of America
Lilly Polack
