Seven students at Hanscom Middle School will represent Massachusetts in this year’s National History Day, a rigorous academic contest that engages 500,000 middle and high school students in historical research.
The Hanscom student projects — all based on this year’s “Breaking Barriers” theme — include exhibits, research papers, and documentary films. The projects were selected for the national contest at Mass History Day, overseen by the Massachusetts Historical Society.
“This is an incredible accomplishment for such a small school,” said Erich Ledebuhr, principal of Hanscom Middle School, which has 266 students on Hanscom Air Force Base in grades 4–8. “I’m extremely proud of all our students and teachers.”
This is the fourth year HMS students have entered the contest under guidance of teacher Jay Peledge. “Our ‘Bessie Coleman’ group just finished the final touches on their documentary, including working in a last-minute interview with Bessie’s grandniece, Gigi Coleman, whom we’ve been trying to get in touch with since October,” he said.
The Coleman film about a pioneering black woman aviator was created by seventh-graders Malinda Jenkins and Morgan Gibson. Other contestants are seventh-grader Madison Yablonski for a research paper on women anthropologists, “The Trimates;” eighth-graders Talla C. Graham and Kirsten D. for “Ted Geisel’s War on Illiteracy;” eighth-grader Emily Doucette for an exhibit on Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; and eight-grader Andrea A-R for a documentary titled “Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked a Gay Revolution.”
Typically there would be a week-long program for contestants at the University of Maryland, but this year the ceremonies will be held virtually from June 14–20, and a virtual awards ceremony will take place on June 20 from 3–4:30 p.m.
Thank you for supporting our students and the hard work and dedication they’ve shown to get to this point!
What a fantastic accomplishment to get this far in the competition. We gain so much perspective about our present by learning about and understanding our past. Kudos to both students and teachers!
Impressive!