Huntington Celebrates National History Day
March 21, 2024
This week’s National History Day contest set a new standard in Huntington UFSD as students spread across grade 6-12 submitted exceptional projects in a variety of categories consistent with the 2024 national competition theme of “Turning Points in History.”
Students spent months researching and 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. 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.
Social studies teacher Lauren Desiderio serves as faculty advisor of the high school’s History Day club, which coordinates the initiative at Huntington. Finley teacher Jarrad Richter, high school teacher Peter Crugnale and SEARCH teacher Jessica Risalvato spoke and presented awards.
This week’s top place finishers will advance to the Long Island regional finals at Hofstra University on Sunday, March 24. Students are incorporating suggestions made by judges to improve their projects.
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.
A large crowd viewed projects on display in the school lobby before moving into the auditorium for an announcement of this year’s award winners. Huntington School Board Vice President Michele Kustera, Superintendent Christian Bowen, Assistant Superintendent Beth McCoy and high school Principal Brenden Cusack were all on hand for the festivities.
History Day club executive officers Jack Ruthkowski and Samantha Koepele hosted the event as co-masters of ceremonies.
Huntington UFSD students have achieved a significant amount of success at the regional, state and national competitions over the years and students and teachers are confident this year’s projects will fare well before judges.
Chairman of Humanities 7-12 Joseph Leavy spoke several times during the event and presented the coveted Jack Abrams Local History Award to Andrew Ochoa Islas, Luis Orrego Salinas and Jaipreet Singh, who collaborated on a group exhibit titled “The Wings of Destiny: Grumman’s Game-Changing Genesis – Galvanizing the Odyssey of Aerial Warfare.
The evening’s grand finale was a presentation of the Principal’s Award by Mr. Cusack to Amani Hug for her historical paper titled “The Discovery of Penicillin: A Revolution for Medicine.”
The National History Day state championship is set for Sunday, April 14 on the SUNY College at Oneonta campus. The national finals will be held on June 9-13 at the University of Maryland, College Park.
2024 National History Day Award Winners
Junior Division
Individual Exhibit:
2nd: The Atomic Bomb
Yahel Barak Elitsur
1st: Gobekli Tepe: A Turning Point in Archaeology
Luisa Mackey
Group Exhibit:
3rd: How Jackie Robinson Changed the MLB Forever
Luke Shanley, Conor Kuhn, Charlie Gordon
2nd: How the Powered Loom and External Combustion Engine Influenced Cultural and Economic Change in Great Britain
Franklin Mulvaney, Emily McCarthy
1st: The Publication of On the Origin of Species: A Turning Point in Evolutionary Discovery
Hennie England, Sophia Curley
Individual Website:
1st: Harriet Tubman The Moses of Her People
Kennya Alvarado
Group Website:
2nd: Wright Brothers
Behan England, Andrew Parrott, Emmett Booth
1st: September 11th Attacks
Brady Oliva, Andrew Cahn, Logan Ranft
Individual Documentary:
1st: The Printing Press: Inking Its Impact in History
Annie Donovan
Group Documentary:
3rd: How Napoleon Changed the World
Byron Jimenez, Jonah Abraham, William Dease, Marc Rosendo Valerio
2nd: Inappropriate Crown Creates Turning Point in English Religious History: The Conflict Between Henry VIII and His Six Wives
Hanna Boyle, Iliana Jarmolowsi, Bella Duke
1st: Penicillin: The Turning Point of Medicine
Darcy Rimkunas, Janita Files
Junior Division Special Awards
Outstanding Junior Entry on Irish History:
Irish Civil War
Cherrie Donnino, Rose Poli, Naomi Halder
Outstanding Junior Entry on American History:
The Change in Aviation Security After the Attacks of 9-11
John Pinto, Ethan Martin, Jason Bencivenga
Outstanding Junior Entry on Military History:
The Significance of D-Day As a Turning Point in World War II
Leo Colello, Aidan Oricoli, Avery Soldo
Senior Division Awards
Historical Paper:
3rd: A Stain on America: The Tulsa Race Massacre
Anne Tyrell
2nd: The Polish-Bolshevik War: The Turning Point in Curtailing Communist Expansion, and a Demonstration of Hope and Righteousness Against the Odds
Nicholas Plachta
1st: The Shot Glass Heard Around the World: The Stonewall Uprising as an Ideological Turning Point in the Gay Rights Movement
Caitlin Maher Dubnau
Individual Website:
3rd: Harold Gillies: The Face of a Hero
Naomi Lyons
https://site.nhd.org/83548920/home
2nd: Scottsboro Trials
Leila O’Toole
https://site.nhd.org/20200078/home
1st: Historic Trauma and Unresolved Grief: The Indian Removal Act of 1830
Cameron Smith
https://site.nhd.org/17354074/home
Group Website:
3rd: Uncovering the Truth Behind Willowbrooks Horrors
Mia Molina, Alexandra Centrone
https://site.nhd.org/58525328/home
2nd: The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906: The Reinvention & Enhancement of the Food Industry
Jessica Bree, Emely Herrera Rivas, Heileen Torres
https://site.nhd.org/38363028/home
1st: The Spanish Flu: Turning Point of 1918
Eshmal Fatima, Jaellyn Portillo Bueso
https://site.nhd.org/31137090/home
Individual Documentary:
2nd: The Pioneer of TV: MTV
Presley Moss
1st: Binney and Smith: Drawing in a New Utensil
Sofia Vias
Group Documentary:
3rd: Synchronized Sound: The Transition That Brought Sound To the World
Banny Soc Concua, Marin Mullaly
2nd: The Development of the NCAA
Jolie Weinschreider, Bridget Callery, Grace Gordon
1st: White Castle: Cooking Up a Food Revolution
Kiley Barch & Emma Polinsky
Individual Exhibit:
3rd: The Phonographic Revolution
Chelsea Drummings
2nd: Unbought and Unbossed: The Political Career of Shirley Chisholm
Isabella Careccia-Johnson
1st: Kate Sheppard: A Turning Point in Women’s Suffrage
Ruby Hoffman
Group Exhibit:
3rd: Atomic Awakening
Aubrie Godin, Leah MacManus, Dylan McKean, Ella Palatnek & Melanie Rodriguez
2nd: Barbie: Changing Girls Lives since 1959
Charlotte Cassatto, Wynne Franciscovich
1st: Fingerprinting in Forensics
Piper Davis, Julia Goodwin, Eva Richter
Senior Division Special Awards
Native American History:
Individual Website
Historic Trauma and Unresolved Grief: The Indian Removal Act of 1830
Cameron Smith
Women’s History:
Group Documentary
Billie Jean: The Queen of Turning the Tennis Tides
Mia Kaufman, Matthew Jimenez, Kiera McGuire
African American History Award:
Individual Website
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Changing the Way We Study Humans
Grayson Dunn
Discovery or Exploration in History:
Group Website
Explosions of Reformation: Gunpowder
Gabriel Salinas, Owen Stevens
American Labor History Award:
Group Documentary
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory: The Flames that Changed America
Giana Anfolisi, Sofia Van Arsdale
History of Place:
Group Documentary
The Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Critical Moment that Ended the Cold War
Madelyn Falk, Kate Gordon, Quinn Rinaldi
History in the Federal Government Award:
Group Exhibit
Social Security: Securing the Future of Americans
Emma Boyle, Louisa Skrobela
Equality in History Award:
Individual Website
Ryan White: A Turning Point in the AIDS Epidemic
Jordana Boxer
Latino American History Award:
Group Documentary
Dreams Unveiled: The Salvadorans Path to the American Dream
Gabriela Amaya, Gabriela Viloro
History of the Sciences and Technology Award:
Individual Website
Silent Spring and the Modern Environmental Movement
Amalia Heinz
The Arts in History Award:
Group Exhibit
DaVinci’s Art Revolution
Mia Einemann, Audrey Sherwood
Sports History:
Group Documentary
The Agent of Freedom: The History of Curt Flood and Free Agency in Baseball
Brennan Ackerman, Griffin Kanzer, Harrison Uvena
Topic of Merit in Global History 9th Grade:
Individual Website
Title IX: If Men Can Do It So Can We
Sena Knopf
Topic of Merit in Global History 10th Grade:
Group Documentary
The Opium Wars: China’s Spiral into a Century of Humiliation
Ethan Ambrosio, Daniel Simon, Dylan Wong
Topic of Merit in American History 11th Grade:
Individual Exhibit
Molassacre: A Turning Point For Building And Business Regulation
Rachel Huth
Jack Abrams Local History Award:
Group Exhibit
The Wings of Destiny Grumman’s Game-Changing Genesis: Galvanizing the Odyssey of Aerial Warfare
Andrew Ochoa Islas, Luis Orrego Salinas, Jaipreet Singh
Principal’s Award:
Historical Paper
The Discovery of Penicillin: A Revolution for Medicine
Amani Huq
