Brown County Middle School student Aesop Birkemeier has been awarded first place in the Junior Division for his individual performance at the National History Day Contest in College Park, Md.

Nearly 3,000 students from across the country presented history projects in five categories, performance, documentary, exhibit, paper and website. Each project needed to fit within the parameters of the theme, turning points in history and was judged by 540 historians and education professionals.

“Participating in the National History Day National Contest in 2024 is a special honor,” National History Day Executive Director Dr. Cathy Gorn said. “As the organization celebrates its 50th anniversary, the students at the National Contest witnessed history. They have shown an incredible level of critical thinking, analysis, and research skills that will benefit them beyond their participation in NHD. I am proud of the students’ achievements this contest year and look forward to how they apply the skills they developed during their research to their future careers and lives.”

Birkemeier told the Democrat that he competed against 100 kids who did performances in the Junior Division. In addition to winning first place, Birkemeier was also chosen as one of nine students to perform at a showcase at the Smithsonian National History Museum in Washington D.C..

“I really loved the experience,” Birkemeier said. “It’s so fun to come up with your idea for a performance, documentary, paper, board or website. You get your materials together, then you go compete. You get to learn about your topic and then learn about the other topics from everyone else’s projects that you might never had learned about if it hadn’t been for National History Day. I’m very honored to have gone to Nationals and competed against over 2,000 people and come out on top. I am very honored to represent Indiana, Brown County and Nashville with my award and I’m very glad I got to do it.”

Birkemeier said that his family had always been involved in National History Day during school so he grew up dreaming of the day he could finally compete.

“I’m going to continue doing it until I graduate high school and am not able to compete anymore,” Birkemeier. “It definitely lived up to my expectations.”

Birkemeier originally wanted to make a documentary for the contest, but knew a play would be the best way to display his story. Birkemeier’s play titled, “Turning Points in History: The Legacy of the 10th Mountain Division” was based on stories he heard growing up about his great-grandfather’s experience during World War II in the 10th Mountain Division.

“My favorite thing was performing,” Birkemeier said. “I just loved performing. I could get my story out there to the judges and audience at National History Day. My great-grandfather never talked much about his experiences during World War II until he was much older, but even then he didn’t talk much about it. I liked getting history out there and telling the story that he never got to.”

Birkemeier received a National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a $1,000 cash prize for winning first place in his division.

He said that he was very excited to win and is already looking forward to preparing for next year’s competition.