Merced County Students Advance to State History Day Competition

The community gathered together in support of student historians on Saturday at the Merced County History Day competition, where more than 50 students from four schools showcased their knowledge and creativity through different history-centered projects.

Students from Chenoweth Elementary School, Hilmar Middle School, Hilmar High School and Peggy Heller School competed in the competition.

Of the 23 projects submitted, the following projects earned gold awards:

Allison Azevedo, Mia Maldonado, Kevin Ramirez and Reagan Silva from Hilmar High School, won in the Senior Group Exhibit category for their project titled “Innovations in Medicine: The Demise of Bloodletting.”

Maya Abruzzo, Rose Bayne, Gabriela Orozco and Audrey Soehnen from Chenoweth Elementary, won in the Elementary Group Podcast category for their project titled “Dorothea Dix: People Deserved Better.”

Amanda Acosta-Corona and Kylie Hlubik, Chenoweth Elementary, won in the Elementary Group Poster category for their project titled “Ada Lovelace: She Discovered the Future.”

Additional students received awards and honorable mentions for the quality of research and the innovative approaches taken with their projects.

In addition to the gold award recipients, many of the students who participated in the competition on Saturday are eligible to advance to California National History Day in April, where they will compete against students from across the state for a chance to participate at the national level.

National History Day is an annual competition that encourages students in grades 4 through 12 to explore historical topics through research and creativity. This year's theme was Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas. Project categories included poster, exhibit, paper, podcast, documentary, website or performance.  

For photos from the event, click here.

For more information about the Merced County History Day competition, contact events@mcoe.org.