40 Parker Students Advance from San Diego County History Day Competition to the State Level
On Saturday, March 4, 69 students from Francis Parker’s Lower, Middle, and Upper School competed in the San Diego County History Day contest. The students worked for the last several months on projects related to the theme of Frontiers in History: People, Places, and Events.
Annually, the National History Day program includes more than 600,000 students nationwide, who create projects related to a central theme and compete in a series of history contests that progress from district to county, to state, and ultimately, national. And Parker has a rich history of students competing at all levels of the competition.
40 students were named county champions and have earned spots representing San Diego at the California State Competition in Sacramento. Many others were named as honorable mention and special award recipients.
Lower School students were coached by Upper Schoolers Annika Baumgartner, Melina Fernon , Dessa Kuritz, Joey Richardson, and Maya Mason, all Class of 2024. Among the judges at this year’s event were Parker alumni Anoushka Bose ‘16, Maya Chu ‘19, Sonali Chu ‘19, Isaac Gray ‘16, and Mary Tobin ‘16.
ELEMENTARY DIVISION (Lower School)
Twenty seven Parker students from the Lower School participated in the San Diego County History Day Competition, and fourteen projects were submitted. These projects include:
Bijoux Apostolides
Forging A Frontier: How San Diego Was Built by the Chinese and How America Responded
Poster
Economics Award
Advances to State
Supriya Constance
Trailblazing with Trees: Kate Sessions’ Legacy in San Diego
Podcast
Advances to State
Madison Patstone
Lift Off: Launching Black Women into the Final Frontier
Poster
Aarya Parmar
The Viking Mars Lander
Podcast
Advances to State
Maris Page
National Parks: The Forever Frontier
Podcast
Advances to State
Annabelle Saltman
The Transcontinental Railroad: To the Frontier
Poster
David Benitez & Eli Robins
Thomas Edison: Lighting The Way to a Better Future
Podcast
Advances to State
Scarlett Brooks, Rachel Morera, Siyana Patel
The Lily: A Voice for Women
Poster
Outstanding Project in American History
Lia Burakoff, Chloe Hsu, Lyden McGlinn
Helen Keller: A Strong Successful Woman
Poster
Fiona Chenelia & Emily Palmer
Julian of Norwich: Hope, Love, and Literature in Times of Despair
Poster
Women of Character Award, Honorable Mention
Nora Robins, Madeleine Shay, Rosie Virgen-Slane
Marie Curie and the Study of Radiology
Podcast
Advances to State
Hannah Grigsby-King & Vivienne Blair
The Secret War? How The Secret War has Affected Laotian Culture Today
Podcast
Honorable Mention
Maya Grigsby-King, Audrey Rademaker, Suhani Wybourn
Jackson’s Journey
Podcast
Advances to State
Paavan Padhiar, Ethan Sloan, Ella Vanstone
Race to the Double Helix: Lies, Thieves, and the New Frontier of Modern Molecular Biology; Did Watson and Crick Steal Rosalind Franklin’s Work?
Poster
Advances to State
JUNIOR DIVISION (Middle School)
Fourteen Parker students from the Middle School participated in the San Diego County Histroy Day Competition, and eight projects were submitted. These projects include:
Athena Apostolides
Nathaniel Harrison: A Pioneer of Many Frontiers
Exhibit
Economics Award, Minority Group Accomplishments Through Diversity Award
Advances to State
Bridget Salt
A New Frontier in the Old World: Egyptian Medicine
Exhibit
Advances to State
Swika Sampat
Bruce’s Beach: A Catalyst for Reparations?
Documentary
A People’s History Award
Prajna Valipireddy
Fortitude on the Frontlines of WWI
Podcast
Advances to State
Luke Blair, Rohan Balam, Lucas Chen, Persis Egleson
Jeans: A Frontier of Fashion
Exhibit
Forest Liang, Matthew Gunn, Elie Steinway
Haiti: The Spark That Burned Down Slavery
Podcast
Advances to State
Ritam Sen
The Inequalities of the Internet; Frontiers: People, Places, Ideas
Documentary
Honorable Mention
Tanner Henry & Rahul Kadia
Shigeru Miyamoto: The Frontier Man of Nintendo
Podcast
Advances to State
SENIOR DIVISION (High School)
Twenty eight Parker students from the Upper School participated in the San Diego County Histroy Day Competition, and seventeen projects were submitted. These projects include:
Ayan Champsi
Al-Khwarizmi: Frontiers in Mathematics
Historical Paper
Outstanding Research and Writing of History Award
Advances to State
Mark Blair & Eric Lillie
From The Amsterdam Stock Exchange to the Ends of the Earth: An Exploration of the Dutch East India Company
Website
Nicholas Kim, Amaya Peterson, Caroline Dewitt, Sami Kim
Offsides: Women Soccer’s Fight For Equal PayWebsite
Honorable Mention
Keira Dunn & Ella Kim
The Transcontinental Railroad: Paving the Way for American Industrialization
Documentary
Advances to State
Krishna Kuruvadi & Bo Taylor
Genesis of a Nation: New Frontiers in a Post-Colonial India
Website
Honorable Mention
Sanya Prasad
Rosalind Franklin: The Foundation of the Double Helix Theory and its Lasting Implications
Exhibit
Advances to State
Annika Baumgartner, Melina Fernon, Dessa Kuritz, Joey Richardson
Flying Under the Radar: The WASPs of WWII
Website
Advances to State
Giana Bove & Alina Kedrosky
Wernher von Braun: The Columbus of Space
Website
Ben Folk
The Frontier of Computation:The Man Behind the Machine
Podcast
Advances to State
Sanjana Kumar
Frontiers In Feminism: The Rococo Art Movement’s Liberation Of Female Aristocracy
Performance
Advances to State
Maya Mason
Rebellion and Reform: The Rise of Graffiti Activism throughout the 1960s
Podcast
Advances to State
Jessie Shen
PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1: How the War on Drugs Became a War on Minorities
Documentary
Advances to State
Ethan Kassar
Frontier for Peace: The Two State Solution in Israel and PalestineHistorical
Paper
Honorable Mention
Roark Lacey
Exploiting The Final Frontier: Commercialization of Outer Space
Website
Economics Award, Library Research Award
Advances to State
Hannah Luna
The Birth Control Pill: Taking Charge of the Modern Woman’s HealthExhibit
Economics Award, Library Research Award
Advances to State
Shea McGrath
Glen Canyon: Frontiers Opened, Paradise Flooded
Library Research Award
Advances to State
Keigo Omura & Sophie White
American Chinatowns: The Cultural Gateway in the Urban West
Exhibit
Advances to State
