GPS Freshmen History students won big at state "History Day" competition, taking home awards, prizes, and the chance to compete at the national level.
The event was held on Saturday, April 8, during Tennessee History Day in Nashville. The theme of this year's national history contest was "Taking a Stand in History"; the students were free to explore any historical topic relevant to the theme and share the results of their projects in the form of exhibits, papers, performances, websites, or documentaries. All three of the GPS teams honored at the state level won for collaborative group projects.
In the Senior Group Documentary category, freshmen Honors History students Sana Nisar, Katie Millican, Isabel Hester, Jadyn Matthews, and Olivia Hoodenpyle took second place for their project "American Women's Dress Reform: 1850-1920." They have now qualified to represent Tennessee at National History Day later this summer at the University of Maryland.
Freshmen Honors students Erin Maxwell, Ruchika Rathi, Ella Ensign, Elizabeth Rowe, and Kathryn Ingle took third place in the Senior Group Website competition for their project "Simón Bolívar: Liberating South American Countries.”
Two special awards were given to a project entitled "The Cherokees: Trail to Tribal Rights" by freshmen Honors students Katherine Bell, Komal Patri, Mary Beth Propes, and Astra Burke. This project received the Society for Tennessee Archivists Award for Archival Research, Senior Division. The award recognizes the best project in the division that uses primary sources such as documents, letters, diaries, personal papers, photographs, etc. for research on a historical topic from an institution located in Tennessee. Special consideration is given to students, like the award winners, who do onsite research rather than just utilizing online resources.
This group of freshmen girls also received the Age of Jackson Award, Senior Division, for the project that best explores or represents Jacksonian America in the Tennessee History Day competition. Both awards came with a cash prize.
"This is the first year in recent memory in which GPS has competed in the Senior Division for History Day, and I could not be prouder of what the girls accomplished,” said GPS history teacher Dr. Ralph Covino.
“Their projects were all innovative and intriguing and clearly caused quite a buzz. I should point out that our freshmen girls were up against upperclassmen from around the state; they held their own admirably and took home some pretty sweet prizes. I can only guess what they will cook up as sophomores."