Research Partners Interview Figure in US Supreme Court Case

This year’s National History Day initiative is in full swing at Huntington High School as students enrolled in Global 9 Honors, Advanced Placement World and AP US History have all selected their topics and begun the research process.

“Many students have already submitted preliminary research to their teachers, drafted their thesis statements and are now in the process of creating their projects,” said social studies teacher Lauren Desiderio, who oversees the National History Day program. “Our NHD club officers have been meeting with students on Tuesdays and Thursdays, both in the morning before school starts and after-school to provide support and guidance.”

Ms. Desiderio along with department faculty colleagues Peter Crugnale and Kenneth Donovan are looking forward to receiving completed projects on January 21.

“Our students have selected a variety of really interesting topics this year to fit the 2025 contest theme of Rights and Responsibilities,” Mrs. Desiderio said. “In particular, four of my ninth grade Global 9 Honors students are actively investigating and forging connections to the present with their topic of Tinker v. Des Moines. They were able to secure and interview Mary Beth Tinker this past week after reaching out to her on their own to see if she would be willing to sit for an interview. It was an incredible opportunity and I am so proud of how they conducted themselves, the insightful questions they posed and can’t wait to see their final project.  They are even looking to build upon this experience and interview some of our current administrators to learn about how they’ve handled or encountered students wanting to exercise their First Amendment rights.”

Angela Abbatiello, Lia Zivkovic, Violet Palacios and Juliet Johnson are working together as a group on the project.

“Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District is a landmark case addressing the free speech rights of public school students,” according to the National Constitution Center. “In Tinker, a group of high school students wore black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. The students were disciplined by the school for wearing the armbands, and the students filed a lawsuit arguing that their armbands were a form of symbolic protest protected by the First Amendment. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court agreed with the students. In his opinion for the Court majority, Justice Abe Fortas held that the students retained their First Amendment rights while at school as long as their expressive acts did not “materially or substantially interfere” with the school’s operation. In Tinker, there was no actual interference. The school only feared potential disruption. This was not enough to survive a First Amendment challenge. While Tinker was an important defense of free speech rights for students, it also emphasized the limits of free speech rights in the school context; namely, schools may limit student speech when it ‘materially or substantially interfere[s]’ with a school’s operations and its central mission, teaching students.”

The four research partners are working hard. “Selecting a topic for our National History Day project was difficult because we wanted it to be powerful, significant and well-executed,” Ms. Abbatiello said. “Ultimately, our group chose the landmark Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines because the case challenged students' First Amendment rights, which are rights that directly affect every American- more importantly teenagers like ourselves.”

Landing an interview with Mary Beth Tinker was a proverbial coup. “We had emailed Ms. Tinker thinking there was no chance we would get a response,” Ms. Zivkovic said. “We assumed she got emails every day asking for interviews so when we saw that she emailed us back we were so excited and surprised. We knew this was going to be a moment to remember.”

The students found the phone call to be well worth the effort. “After having the opportunity to speak with Ms. Tinker, it truly inspired us even more with her amazing story,” Ms. Palacios said. “Her journey is so powerful and motivating, and we’re super excited to be involved in a project that will share it with everyone. This is going to be an incredible experience, and we're looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.”

The research partners are all close friends and exceptional students academically. “Our conversation with Ms. Tinker was very informative and extremely helpful for our project,” Ms. Johnson said. “She provided us with useful details about the case that we were previously unaware of such as her perspective and her other attempts of expressing her freedom of expression. Being able to talk to a primary source got us excited to continue the project and allowed us to fully understand everything that was happening during this time period.”