Murray students and teachers heading to the National History Day competition are, from left: teacher Courtney Major, Aaron Ramsey, Nora Thomey, Fiona Juarez-Sweeney, Claire Driscoll, Bridget Lee, Tana Osaski, Sam Skinner and teacher Carrie Newman.
A number of area students will head to National History Day in June at the University of Maryland after big wins at the state tournament in May at the University of Minnesota.
Of the 24 students Murray Middle School sent to the state tournament, seven will compete nationally and nine won honorable mentions.
Grace Philippon of St. Anthony Park, a seventh-grader at the Twin Cities German Immersion School, won first place in the Junior Division Paper category and will advance to nationals with her paper “Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring: Standing Up for Women, Science, and the Environment.”
Here are the Murray students who will go to nationals or received honorable mentions:
History Day winner Grace Philippon, teacher Catie Jacobs and
volunteer Joe Isle.
In the Junior Individual Performance category, Nora Thomey won second place in her piece about her grandfather, “Jack Rajala: Taking a Stand for the White Pine.” Honorable mentions went to Audrey Power-Theisen and Robel Hayelom.
In Junior Group Performance, first place went Fiona Juarez- Sweeney, Claire Driscoll and Bridget Lee for their project, “Taking a Stand for Women: The Ford Dagenham Strike.” The girls were also awarded a $100 topical prize for best project in Labor History. Second place went to Tana Osaski and Aaron Ramsey for, “The 1968 Black Power Salute.” Honorable mention went to Anna Gaudio and Fiona Blank.
In the Junior Individual Documentary category, Samuel Skinner won first place with “An Ordinary American, An Ordinary Stand: Korematsu v. United States.” Mira Seeba received an honorable mention.
Hemet Si-Asar Apet took third in the Junior Individual Exhibit for “Taking a Stand for the Fair Housing Act: Dr. Josie Johnson Making a Difference.”
In Junior Group Exhibit honorable mentions went to Kaya Scheid and Lyra Sato and Levi Nichols and Charles Wriedt.
Murray teachers and students need to raise more than $900 each for expenses. Contributions can be made online at education.mnhs.org/ historyday/state-history-day. Choose the yellow “Donate” button on the right and you will be directed to the GiveMN.org site under “Adopt a Scholar.” On the right side of the screen, choose your donation amount and press donate. Be sure to designate Murray Middle School in the Tribute or Memorial Dedication box.
The deadline to donate is June 1, 2017.
