Seventeen Brown County students competed in the National History Day in Indiana state contest last month, and six of them qualified to compete in nationals.

The contest took place virtually from April 17 to 27. NHDI is a yearlong program dedicated to enhancing history education in Indiana’s schools, sponsored by the Indiana Historical Society. The state contest included 469 students from schools across the state.

All first- and second-place state finishers in each junior and senior category are now eligible to compete in the National Contest for National History Day, virtually from June 14 to 20. At least 3,000 students are expected to compete from across the country and world.

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JUNIOR DIVISION

• Second place: Alayna Jacobus, sixth grade, Brown County Intermediate School, junior individual exhibit, “Gus Grissom: A Space Leader” (nationals qualifier)
• Second place: Taylor Lucas and Mackinzie Knaus, seventh grade, Brown County Junior High School, junior group exhibit, “Challenging Japanese Internment: Fred Korematsu Defies Executive Order 9066” (nationals qualifiers)

SENIOR DIVISION

• Second place: Chloee Robison, 12th grade, Brown County High School, senior individual exhibit, “The Thalidomide Tragedy: Breaking Barriers in Politics and the Placenta” (nationals qualifier)
• Second place: Abigail Angebrandt and Megan Bickley, 11th grade, BCHS, senior group website, “The Angels of Bataan and Corregidor” (nationals qualifier)
• Third place: Aidan Schilling, ninth grade, BCHS, senior individual website, “A Soviet Saga: Reform and Regret” (alternate for nationals)

Regional winners who competed at state also included:

JUNIOR DIVISION

• Kendra Earnshaw, sixth grade, BCIS, junior individual performance, “Unbought and Unbossed” (Shirley Chisholm, 1968 campaign slogan)
• Madalyn Purlee, eighth grade, BCJHS, junior paper, “We the People: Breaking the Barriers to Form a More Perfect Union” (state finalist)
• Adalyn True, seventh grade, BCJHS, junior individual exhibit, “Nellie Bly: Breaking Barriers for the Mentally Ill” (state finalist)

SENIOR DIVISION

• Cameron Fox, Lauren Akles and Ricky Stanley, 11th grade, BCHS, senior group exhibit, “The Sky is Not the Limit” (state finalist)
• Emelia Koester and Natalie Suding, 11th grade, BCHS, senior group documentary, “Irena Sendler: Breaking Barriers During the Holocaust”
• Mattie Satter, 10th grade, BCHS, senior individual exhibit, “Breaking Barriers for Women in Agriculture”
• Jascyn Martin, 11th grade, BCHS, senior individual documentary, “The Discovery of Insulin: How Dogs Saved Thousands”

Other regional winners who were eligible but did not compete at state were:

• Kai Koester and Wesley Arndt, seventh grade, BCJHS, junior group exhibit, “The First Immigrants to be Banned: Chinese Exclusion Act”
• Ella Jackson, seventh grade, BCJHS, junior individual exhibit, “Breaking Codes and Breaking Barriers: Battle of Midway”

Other regional competitors included:

• Genevieve Laguna, sixth grade, BCIS, junior individual exhibit, “Nellie Bly: Breaking Barriers With Words”
• Brooklyn Hubbard, sixth grade, BCIS, junior individual exhibit, “Michael Jackson: Breaking Barriers With Music”
• Alivia Workman and Jennica Weinke, fifth grade, BCIS, “youth group exhibit, “Picasso: Creating a New Genre By Breaking the Rules”