Bronxville News

A group of Bronxville High School freshmen and sophomores and Bronxville Middle School eighth graders were named winners in one of several categories at the schoolwide competition of National History Day. 

Having conducted extensive historical research on a topic of their choice over the last several months, the students’ authentic work focused on the 2020-21 theme of “Communication in History: The Key to Understanding.” Their work was displayed in one of five ways – paper, website, documentary, performance or exhibit – and submitted electronically to be evaluated by a panel of judges. 

“The perseverance of this year’s NHD cohort is admirable,” said teacher Christina Reidel, who oversees the program with Kris Hart, Dana Landesman and Bill Meyer. “To adjust to so many changes during a pandemic and remaining committed to historical research is a testament to the strength of this program.”

For the first time this year, three motivated eighth graders, Skylar Lau, Ryon Schmidt and Liberty Wilson, chose to participate in the program. 

“They decided, in addition to their coursework, to research a deeper topic that interested them,” Landesman said. “I could not be more proud of the work that they completed. Truly outstanding. They have also been working closely with our high school NHD mentoring team throughout the process.” 

As a result of their outstanding work, 52 students have advanced to the 2021 Lower Hudson Valley Regional National History Day Competition, which will be held virtually March 13-23. At the regional competition, the students will be interviewed by professors and scholars and articulate what they’ve discovered through their historical research. Winners in that competition will advance to the state competition and ultimately to the national finals. 

Congratulations to the following students who have advanced to the regional competition in these categories: 

Documentary (Individual, senior division): 
•    Amelia Grullon – “The Vietnam Anti-War Movement” 
•    Sophie Hartmann – “How the Superpowers Used Space Race Leadership to Communicate Their Political and Military Strength.” 
•    Jack Perry – “Alan Turing: Communication Between Man and Machine.”

Documentary (Group, senior division): 
•    Wilder Burgin, J.W. Henningson, Aidan McBride and Charles van Tienhoven – “Speaking Without Talking: How American POWs in Vietnam Used Communication to Endure Captivity.”
•    Ian Gegenwarth, Wesley Kane, John Rizzo, Hayes Romley and LouFei Sung – “Censorship and Propaganda: The Soviet Response to Societal Unrest.”
•    Alexandra Hulbert, Brooke Kaye and Sarah Modesitt – “The Effects of Pseudonyms: Prejudice Against Women in the Writing Industry.” 

Website (Individual, senior division): 
•    Lucy Thiessen – “The Mongolian Yam and Its Influence on Travel and Trade.”
•    Alden Martinelli – “Flip Schulke: An Impact on Photojournalism.”
•    Jaime Valdes – “Allied Communication with the Poles: The Key to Cracking the Enigma Code.”

Website (Group, senior division): 
•    Delaney Leddy and Madeline Lescott – “Underground Ikastolas: The Unrecognized Bravery of the Basque People During the Franco Dictatorship.”
•    Owen Atkeson, Jay Marshall, Greydon O’Keefe and David O’Shaughnessy – “Nazi Propaganda: How The Third Reich Rose to Power.”
•    Ted Heraty and John Ryan – “Media and Conflict: The Influence of the Press on a Nation at War.”

Website (Group, junior division): 
•    Skylar Lau, Ryon Schmidt and Liberty Wilson – “Comic Book Propaganda: The Impact on Communication During WWII.”

Research Paper (Senior division): 
•    Aarna Pal-Yadav – “Thomas Müntzer, One Life, Five Legacies: Communication and Interpretation of His Legacy.”
•    Isabela Fenner – “The Amistad Rebels: A Struggle to Communicate Their Story of Brutality to Reclaim Their Freedom.”
•    Frannie Krause – “Reinforcing Misogynistic Practices: Homer’s Influence on Ancient Greece and Beyond.”

Performance (Group, senior division): 
•    Remi Mellinghoff, Natalia Metzger, Sanaa Patel and Zi Xin Xu – “The Missing Letter.”
•    Lily Crystal and Clarissa Russo – “Relationships in Religion: How the Ancient Greeks Utilized Communication in its Earliest Form.”

Exhibit (Individual, senior division): 
•    Charlie Clifford – “World’s Fairs: Communicating Progress, Peace and Cooperation.”
•    Andreas Wimmershoff – “Technology in Electronic Music and its Impact on Music Culture.”
•    Kathryn Giuriceo – “The Hangul: Unifying Korea Through Language.”

Exhibit (Group, senior division): 
•    Brooks Clifford, Eleanor Clifford and Saya Mueller – “Politics to Prejudice: Dr. Seuss’s Masked Messages.”
•    Lucie Curran, Fiona Dennin and Michaela McSherry – “The Underground Railroad: The Coded Music and Quilts Behind Self-Emancipation.”
•    Benjamin Atkenson, Griffin Blumenreich, Christopher Horvers, Valentino Quieti and Kiran Waggoner – “The First Crusade: Pope Urban II’s Exploitation of Thousands.”