Students from Fairfax County Public Schools won 20 category awards in the 2022 Virginia History Day competition, held at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond and based on the theme, “Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences.”
The top two entries in each category and age division at the state level will compete at the National History Day finals.
In addition, Jill Shull from Haycock Elementary won the Brenton S. Halsey Teaching Excellence Award, and Kathleen Stankiewicz from Langley High School won the District 5 Teacher of the Year Award.
First-place honorees from the Sun Gazette coverage area include:
• Junior Group Exhibit: “Paving a Path to Childhood: The Keating Owens Act” by Charlotte Hahn and Madeleine Mowrey, Haycock Elementary.
• Junior Group Performance: “The Protestant Reformation” by April Sheng and Hannah Wibowo, Haycock Elementary School.
• Junior Group Website: “The U2 Spy Plane Incident, A Diplomatic Failure” by David Ahn and Adam Zhao, Haycock Elementary.
• Junior Individual Documentary: “New World Order Through Debate and Diplomacy: The Establishment of the United Nations” by Elaine Zhang, Haycock Elementary.
• Senior Individual Exhibit: “World War Zero: Diplomacy in the Treaty of Portsmouth” by Mansi Bhardwaj, Langley High School.
• Youth/Elementary Individual Exhibit: “Igniting Debate and Reform: How the U.S. Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program Shaped China’s Modernization” by Ethan Zhang, Churchill Road Elementary School.
• Junior Individual Performance: “The Outer Space Treaty: The Senate Debate” by Calvin Hurwitz, Haycock Elementary.