Peru, Neb.) Fourteen area high school students took top honors at Peru State College’s 31st Annual District History Day Contest, each earning $500 “Tested for Excellence” tuition scholarships. This year’s theme for the competition was “Leadership and Legacy in History.”

Nearly 300 students from area school districts participated in the competition, including:

Auburn Middle School

Johnson-Brock Middle School

Johnson-Brock High School

Nebraska City Lourdes Central Catholic Schools

Nebraska City Middle School

Pawnee City Public Schools

St. John the Baptist School (Plattsmouth)

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca Middle School

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School            

 History Day contestants presented their work in five medias, including paper, performance, documentary, exhibit or website. Students chose topics that interested them that related back to the event theme. Participants were separated into two divisions: junior (grades 6-8) and senior (grades 9-12). Since the number of entries at Peru State College is the 2nd largest in the state, the top four winners in each category will be eligible for the statewide contest held at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln on Saturday, April 11. The 2015 Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest will be held June 14-18 at the University of Maryland.

The total number of entries was 175.

First-place winners in each of the senior division categories received $500 “Tested for Excellence” tuition scholarships to Peru State. The Kregel Windmill Factory Museum, Nebraska City Museum Association, Nemaha Valley Museum, Mayhew Cabin, Peru Historical Foundation and Missouri River Basin Lewis and Clark Visitor’s Center in Nebraska City also presented special awards in a variety of categories.

History Professor and Contest Director Dr. Sara Crook said, “It was exhilarating to see what topics the students had chosen to research - especially to see how they were able to make the correlation to this year’s theme of ‘Leadership and Legacy in History.’ The topics were across all disciplines and centuries ranging from local leaders, such as ‘Conducting the Orphan Train: Leadership & Legacy of Charles Loring Brace,’ to iconic national and international leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Thurgood Marshall and Frederick the Great King of Prussia. It is always inspiring to see students take such a strong interest in studying history and making the argument for its relevance in today’s world.” 

Winners in the Senior Division (grades 9-12) include:

Senior Group Exhibit

1st Place:         Faces in the Mirror

Ariel Prater & Shyanne Zander

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School

2nd Place:         Sam Francis: A Leader and a Legend

Will Neels & Dalton Swiercek

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School

3rd Place:         The Progression of Organ Transplantations

Carlie Kosiba & Morgan Leefers

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School

4th Place:         James-Younger Gang

Elias Husen & Logan Stubbendeck

Senior Individual Exhibit

1st Place:         Williams Jennings Bryan: A Crusader of Advanced Ideals

Jameson Bennett

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School

2nd Place:         The Legacy of the Moon Walker

Jaycob Tharp

Nebraska City High School

3rd Place:         Abraham Lincoln Frees All The Slaves

Viktor Werner

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School

4th Place:         Carroll Shelby

Davissen Runde

Johnson-Brock High School

Senior Individual Documentary

1st Place:         Elizabeth Blackwell: Woman Who Changed History

Jade Parker

Pawnee City High School

2nd Place:         Qin Shi Huang: The Man That Built the Terracotta Warriors

James Iverson

Pawnee City High School

Senior Individual Historical Paper

1st Place:         U.S. Grant

Cade Heywood

Johnson-Brock High School

2nd Place:         Jackie Robinson

Kaitlynn Simon

Johnson-Brock High School

Senior Group Performance

1st Place:         Amelia Earhart

Emerson Carbajal & Morgan Rieger

Johnson-Brock High School

2nd Place:         La Flesche Legacy Stands the Test of Time

Martyna Holthus & Bailey Johnson

Johnson-Brock High School

3rd Place:         Frederick the Great King of Prussia

Jeffrey Burr, Trevor Hillman, Cody Pester, Ethan Wallman & Blake Zoller

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School

4th Place:         Tom Osborne A Living Legend

Seth Bayliss, Nate Hemje & Holden Kuehn

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School

Senior Individual Performance

1st Place:         The Orphan Train

Sam Varney

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School

2nd Place:        Susan B Anthony: Leader in Women's Rights

Shyanne Pendell

Johnson-Brock High School

3rd Place:         Bill Monroe: The Father of Bluegrass

Riley Porter

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School

Senior Group Interpretative Website

1st Place:         Overcoming Adversity: The Legacy of Thurgood Marshall

Chris Goble, Mackensie Slack & Logan Teten

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School

2nd Place:         J. Sterling Morton: Planting Leadership and Sprouting a Legacy

Emily Oestmann & Brynn Westenburg

Johnson-Brock High School

3rd Place:         Steve Jobs: Innovation at Your Fingertips

Sydney Lintner, Mariah McWilliams & Kylee Werner

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School

4th Place:         Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Legacy in World War II

Isaac Gottula & Cassie Martin

Pawnee City High School

Senior Individual Interpretative Website

1st Place:         Conducting the Orphan Train: Leadership and Legacy of Charles Loring Brace

Jessica Bohling

Johnson–Brock High School

2nd Place:         Martin Luther King Jr.: "I Have A Dream"

Jordan Porter

Pawnee City High School

3rd Place:         General Dwight D. Eisenhower: "Operation Overlord"

Miranda Branek

Pawnee City High School

4th Place:         Oprah Winfrey: A Legend in the Entertainment Industry

Aeden Gyhra

Pawnee City High School

Senior Group Documentary

1st Place:         The Fast Food Mafia

Duncan Coe & Brennen Russell

Nebraska City High School

Winners in the Junior Division (grades 6-8) include:

Junior Group Exhibit

1st Place:         An Apple a Day: The Leadership & Legacy of Steve Jobs

Joseph Barrios, Nick Overstreet & Christopher Weaver

St. John the Baptist Elementary (Plattsmouth)

2nd Place:         Air Power: The Leadership & Legacy of Billy Mitchell

Thomas Carpenter, Jacob Curtis, Jacob Hobscheidt & Zach Nielsen

St. John the Baptist Elementary (Plattsmouth)

3rd Place:         Anne Frank

Caitlyn Carlson, Benna Martin & Tessa Varney

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca Middle School

4th Place:         The Legacy of Dr. Seuss

Sydney Golladay, Shelby Neiman & Sadie Shriver

Auburn Middle School

Junior Individual Exhibit

1st Place:         Designing the Future: Frank Lloyd Wright's Influence on Our Lives

Isaiah Spruth-Janssen

Johnson-Brock Middle School

2nd Place:         George Patton - Soldier, Leader, & Legend

Connor Rose

St. John The Baptist Elementary (Plattsmouth)

3rd Place:         Fr. Flanagan a Voice for Children

Natalie Wright

Nebraska City Lourdes Central Catholic

4th Place:         We Like Ike

Dacota Falk

Johnson-Brock Middle School

Junior Individual Documentary

1st Place:         Patsy Mink and Title IX

Madison Reiman

Auburn Middle School

2nd Place:         Charles Drew: A Pioneer in Medicine

Andrew Aldana

Nebraska City Lourdes Central Catholic

3rd Place:         Ringing a BELL in History: The Sound of a Leader

Macey Allgood

Nebraska City Lourdes Central Catholic

Junior Individual Historical Paper

1st Place:         Julian Bauhaud: Founder of Julian

Elizabeth Hodges

Johnson-Brock Middle School

2nd Place:         Willa Cather: A Novelist With a Legacy

Fallon Stutheit

Johnson-Brock Middle School

3rd Place:         The Mother of the Second Stage of Feminism: Betty Friedan's Advocacy on Women's Rights in the 1960s

Logan Bakula

Nebraska City Lourdes Central Catholic

4th Place:         Animals in War

Elsa Michels

Nebraska City Middle School

Junior Individual Performance

1st Place:         Mr. Gene Kelly: Who Could Ask for Anything More

Piper Monson

Nebraska City Lourdes Central Catholic

2nd Place:       Adolf Hitler

Logan Hoover

Nebraska City Middle School

Junior Group Performance

1st Place:         Helen Keller

Fernando Dominguez, Angelica Stiles & Sarah Sullivan

Nebraska City Middle School

Junior Group Interpretative Website

1st Place:        Once Upon a Time: A Story of a Fashion Revolutionist

Chloe Dubois & Karinne Olson

Nebraska City Lourdes Central Catholic

2nd Place:        James Naismith: He Took a Shot

Joshua Hoff-Boring, Brendon Froisland & Ty Hahn

Johnson-Brock Middle School

3rd Place:         Walt Disney

Brynn Krieger, Dominick Lange & Alayna Nannen

Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca Middle School

4th Place          Bill Gates

Trevor Kohrs, Keith Whitehead & Nick Zaroban

Nebraska City Middle School

Junior Individual Interpretative Website

1st Place:         Antoine Laurent Lavoisier: The Father of Modern Chemistry

Anna Gigstad

Nebraska City Lourdes Central Catholic

2nd Place:         Dr. Seuss: The Doctor of Literature

Colter Fulton

Nebraska City Lourdes Central Catholic

3rd Place:         The Manhattan Project

Jared Robles

Nebraska City Middle School

4th Place:         Poland, Pierre, and Polonium – Marie Curie

Grant Draus

Nebraska City Lourdes Central Catholic

Other special awards include:

Nebraska City Museum Association Award: The award is presented for the best use of oral history as a research tool by an individual or group.

·       Jessica Gohling - Johnson-Brock Public Schools

Senior Individual Website: Conducting the Orphan Train: Leadership & Legacy of Charles Loring Brace

Peru Historical Foundation Award: The award is presented for the best entry, individual or group, focused on a southeast Nebraska historical event/person.

Sarah Antes and Kaylee Hartman - Syracuse High School

Senior Group Website: The Nebraska Experiment

Mayhew Cabin Award: The award is presented for the best entry on 19th century African-American History. 

Lily Kastens, Madison Kaster & Raymond Owens - Syracuse Middle School

Junior Individual Exhibit: Harriet Tubman

Nemaha Valley Museum: The award is presented to the best junior and senior division entries with a topic involving Nemaha County or southeast Nebraska.

Elizabeth Hodges - Johnson Brock Public Schools

Junior Historical Paper: Julian Bahaud: Founder of Julian

Emily Oestmann and Brynn Westenburg - Johnson Brock Public Schools

Senior Group Website: J. Sterling Morton: Planting Leadership and Sprouting a Legacy

Kregel Windmill Factory Museum: The award is presented to the best entry with a topic on agricultural machinery.

Alex Gyhra - Pawnee City High School

Senior Individual Website: Wilmont Crozier leads Nebraska in the Development of the Tractor Law

Michelle A. Broady Award for Extraordinary Determination: Winner determined by Phi Alpha Theta members at Peru State from nominations submitted by sponsoring teachers.

Viktor Warner; Syracuse High School

Senior Individual Exhibit: Abraham Lincoln Frees All the Slaves

We Proceeded On (A new special award starting in 2015): The award is judged and presented by the Missouri River Basin Lewis and Clark Visitor’s Center in Nebraska City. This award was presented to an individual entry in the Junior Division whose entry was focused on an individual or group who displayed extraordinary leadership in promoting a cause or an idea.

Elizabeth Hodges; Johnson-Brock Public Schools

Junior Historical Paper: Julian Bahaud: Founder of Julian

The theme for the 2016 National History Day competition will be “Migration and Movement in History: People, Places, Ideas.”  The PSC District History Day competition for next year is tentatively scheduled for Friday, February 26, 2016.