KEARNEY – The University of Nebraska at Kearney hosted the annual Central Nebraska History Day on Wednesday with more than 170 middle and high school students competing.
Students from Arcadia, Ainsworth, Arapahoe, Cozad, Lexington, McCook and O’Neill presented projects based on the theme “Conflict and Compromise in History.” They competed in individual or group events in categories such as documentary film, interpretive websites, poster exhibits and individual research papers.
Judges were university faculty and staff and volunteers from the community. Winning projects had to clearly showcase the theme and show accuracy of facts, breadth of research and clarity of presentation.
Students who place at the district level can compete in the Nebraska History Day contest April 7 at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln.
History Day is a national educational program aimed at giving students the opportunity to pursue historical research on a chosen theme and use their creativity in developing competitive projects based on their research.
Central Nebraska History Day is sponsored by the UNK department of history.
Winners from Central Nebraska History Day are:
Junior Individual Performance
First place — Cole Bodeman of Ainsworth, “The Conflict and Compromise of the Battle of Fort McHenry”
Junior Group Performance
First place — Katherine Kerrigan, Karli Kral, Taylor Allen, Airyan Goochey and Nathan Bryant of Ainsworth, “The Orphan Trains: A Life-Changing Compromise”
Senior Individual Performance
First place — Maggie Weatherwax of Arapahoe, “The Vietnam War and the Lost 74”
Second place — Vera Butterfield of O’Neill St. Mary’s, “The Truth”
Senior Group Performance
First place — Betsy Crumly and Alexa Shald of O’Neill St. Mary’s, “Remember the Ladies”
Second place — Brianna Conn and Elizabeth Bell of Arapahoe, “The 19th Amendment – Our Fight for Our Right”
Senior Individual Exhibit
First place — Diana Hanzlick of Arapahoe, “The Massacre at Sand Creek: Conflict for Control of Eastern Colorado”
Second place — Kaitlyn Pongratz of O’Neill St. Mary’s, “Military Women in WWII”
Third place — Kyla Phillips of Arcadia, “Yugoslav Wars: A Forgotten Feud”
Alternate — Michell Plazas of Lexington, “Women’s Rights: The Future is Female”
Senior Group Exhibit
First place — Reilley Einspahr and Cord Frink of Arapahoe, “The Harlem Hellfighters and the Failed Compromise”
Second place — Derek Sander and Tracy Hoard of Arapahoe, “German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact: Compromise to Postpone Conflict”
Third place — Dylan Jansen Van Rensburg and Jonah Shimmin of Arapahoe, “The Battle of Thermopylae”
Junior Individual Exhibit
First place — Savannah Holmes of Ainsworth, “Conflict of Conscience: World War II Objectors and Mental Health Care”
Second place — Jonas Sommerville of McCook Junior High, “The Battle of Thermopylae”
Third place — Andrew Koehlmoos of O’Neill St. Mary’s, “Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal”
Junior Group Exhibit
First place — Tyler Gleason and James Krotter of O’Neill St. Mary’s, “Cold War: Communism or Democracy”
Second place — Isaac Hinze and Jadon Karp of McCook Junior High, “History of Minorities in Baseball”
Third place — Alyssa Fehringer, Olivia Jarman and Lainey Meyer of O’Neill St. Mary’s, “Kansas-Nebraska Act”
Junior Group Documentary
First place — Karyn Burkholder, Mallory Applegate and Mary Canas of Cozad Middle School, “The Dinner Table Compromise”
Second place — Brady Davis and Killian Kostman of Cozad Middle School, “The Berlin Airlift”
Senior Group Documentary
First place — Hunter Swanson, Jackson Koller, Fryderyk Sitnik and Rezo Khalvashi of Arapahoe, “The Fall of Polish Communism”
Second place — Olivia Leising, Hannah Jenkins and Chloe Carlson of Arapahoe, “Women’s Land Army”
Third place — Branigan Schaben, John Lee, Colton Hearn and Carson Schroeder of Arapahoe, “Civil Rights and Southern Politics”
Senior Individual Website
First place — Mariah Watson of Arapahoe, “Feminism and the Miss America Protest of 1968”
Second place — Joslyn North of Arapahoe, “Bloody Mary – When Compromising Tradition Becomes a Conflict”
Third place — Destiny Miller of Arapahoe, “Influential Schools of Thought: The Conflicts and Compromises of Psychology”
Senior Group Website
First place — Damien Hillman and Alex Roush of Arapahoe, “Heliocentrism: Galileo vs. The Vatican”
Second place — Keylee Bodkins, Jorjah Shimmin, Alivia Wasenius and Yordi Gutierrez of Arapahoe, “Holocaust: Murder as Conflict, Survival as Compromise”
Junior Group Website
First place — Gillian Meredith and Alysiah Urquiz-Buss of Cozad Middle School, “Salem Witch Trials”
Junior Research Paper
First place — Allison Taylor of Ainsworth, “The Kinkaid Act: A Successful Compromise to the Public Land Use Conflict”
Second place — Chesney Latta of McCook Junior High, “The Paris Peace Accords”
Third place — Kailynn Rodewald of McCook Junior High, “William Wilberforce”
Senior Research Paper
First place — Gabriela Ramirez of Lexington, “The Trial of Galileo: The Fight Between Science and Religion”
Second place — Tessa Eldridge of Lexington, “Unfinished Business at Yalta: Influencing the Beginning of the Cold War”
Third place — Alfredo Con of Lexington, “American Imperialism: The Conflict of Hawaiian Annexation”
Alternate — Joselinne Gomez of Lexington, “An American Leader’s Battle to Return Home”
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Writer: Tyler Ellyson, writing specialist, UNK News, 308.865.8529, ellysontd@unk.edu
Source: Jim Rohrer, UNK history professor, 308.865.8769, rohrerjr@unk.edu
