For Immediate Release
June 12, 2003
Contact: James Henderson, State Archivist
207-287-5793

Maine Students Head to National History Contest

Students from seven Maine middle and high schools will match history wits with America's best when they compete in National History Day at the University of Maryland June 15-19.

The Maine students qualified for the national contest through a state event held in April. The Maine National History Day Contest was coordinated by the Maine State Archives, a bureau in the Department of the Secretary of State. The Archives is the official repository of records deemed to have permanent value to the state, such as the original Maine constitution.

"I am confident that our students will have a great experience at the national contest and will represent their schools and state with distinction," said Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky, who distributed the awards at the state event, which attracted 161 students from 10 schools.

Students who qualified and who have registered for the national event are from Bonny Eagle High School, Bonny Eagle Middle School, Brunswick Junior High School, Lake Regional Middle School, Scarborough High School, and Skowhegan Area High and Middle Schools. A complete list of Maine students who qualified for the national event is attached, though not all qualifying students actually have registered for the national event.

Maine History Day this year was supported by several major sponsors in Maine: the Margaret Chase Smith Library, the Maine State Library, the Maine Historical Society, the Maine Humanities Council, the Maine Social Studies Council, the Pejepscot Historical Society in Brunswick, and the New England History Teachers Association.

The program adds a new dimension to teaching and learning history, and rewards students for initiative, creativity and scholarship. The program seeks to change the way history is taught and learned by challenging students to conduct historical inquiry and by providing a positive learning environment in which students' work is evaluated outside the classroom.

A list of the top winning students in Maine who qualified for the national event is attached. Visit <www.state.me.us/sos/arc/historyday/histhome.htm> for more detailed information about Maine's state contest. For more information about the national competition, visit <www.nationalhistoryday.org>.

MAINE NATIONAL HISTORY DAY 2003
Winners qualifying for national event

Junior level winners

Group Documentary
First place: Skowhegan Area Middle School
Topic: Margaret Chase Smith
Students: Ian Dorko, Toni Gammon, Liz Michaud, Haili Muse

Second place: Skowhegan Area Middle School
Topic: Concentration Camps
Students: Ben Doty, Mike Therriault

Group Performance
First place: Brunswick Junior High School
Topic: A Day That Will Live in Infamy
Students: Chelsey Geeting, Brett Hatfield, Sophie Springer

Individual Performance
First place: Bonny Eagle Middle School
Topic: From Blue Collar to Pink: Women Using Their Rights for New Responsibilities During WWII
Student: Stephanie Yum

Second place: Skowhegan Area Middle School
Topic: Moral Reformer
Student: Brian Pratt

Group Exhibit
First place: Lake Region Middle School
Topic: The Rights and Responsibilities of Immigrants: The Somalians in Lewiston, A Case Study
Students: Robert Martin, Jordan Vigna

Second place: Lake Region Middle School
Topic: "Hell no! We Won't Go" Vietnam, the War at Home
Students: Gabe Beury-Moore, Alex Toews

Individual Exhibit
First place: Bonny Eagle Middle School
Topic: America's Rights & Responsibilities in Fighting Communism in Vietnam
Student: James Hanley

Second place: Brunswick Junior High School
Topic: Hope, Glory and Sacrifice: Colonel Shaw and the 54th Regiment
Student: Jared Morneau

Senior level winners

Historical Paper
First place: Scarborough High School
Topic: The Rights and Responsibilities of Indian Women
Student: Nicole Gonyea

Second place: Cheverus High School
Topic: Later, Longer, Fewer
Student: Rebecca Krier

Group Documentary
First place: Skowhegan Area High School
Topic: Rosa Parks
Students: Ellie Baker, Kathleen Wilber

Second place: Scarborough High School
Topic: Examining the Holocaust: The Violation of Rights and the Responsibility to Retell History
Students: Tim Erwin, Matt Libby, James Mina

Individual Documentary
First: Skowhegan Area High School
Topic: The Rights and Responsibilities of Conscientious Objectors
Student: Gus Hoy

Second place: Cheverus High School
Topic: Miranda Rights and Responsibilities
Student: Andrew Flynn

Group Performance
First place: Scarborough High School
Topic: Geneva Convention
Students: Michelle Anderson, Kristen Buckley, Melanie Matthews, Deirdre Silcott

Individual Performance
First: Scarborough High School
Topic: The Importance of Locke's Views on the Rights of Man and Responsibilities of Government
Student: Ellen Thornton

Second: Scarborough High School
Topic: A Fight for Rights: Susan B. Anthony
Student: Courtney Kleftis

Group Exhibit
First: Bonny Eagle High School
Topic: The Gallaudet Uprising: Right To Be Heard, Responsibility To Listen
Students: Joshua Seal, Kim Simoneau

Second: Scarborough High School
Topic: US Military Doctors
Students: Katie Cella, Julie Endrizzi, Kerry Jones

Individual Exhibit
First: Scarborough High School
Topic: Women Behind the Men: Rights and Responsibilities of Americas First Ladies
Student: Leah Wallof`

Second: Bonny Eagle High School
Topic: The Decline of Maine's Oldest Industry: Have the Commercial Fisheries Lived up to Their Rights & Responsibilities
Student: Nina Pinette