May 8, 2024
Pinellas earned 12 awards, including three special awards and a prestigious teacher recognition at the annual competition. The Florida History Day contest took place May 5-7 in Tallahassee.
Amanda Dogu of Boca Ciega High School was the Florida History Day Teacher of Merit. The award honors an educator for creative history teaching in and out of the classroom.
Sponsored by the Museum of Florida History, Florida History Day (FHD) is an annual, statewide activity that enhances the teaching and learning of history in middle and high schools. Florida is an affiliate of National History Day® (NHD), which promotes history in the classroom.
This year's theme is "Turning Points in History." Students in grades 6 to 12 research topics relating to local, national, or world history and express their findings in papers, exhibits, performances, documentaries, or websites.
In addition to special awards, eight teams ranked in the top three in their categories. Four teams from Dunedin Highland Middle earned first place and one team from Largo High won second place. Sixteen students who earned first- and second-place awards will compete at the National History Day competition from June 9–13 at the University of Maryland.
Congratulations to all student winners:
Special Award Winners
- Science Heritage Award – Eleanor Nartker – East Lake Middle School – Junior Individual Performance “The National Defense of Education Act”
- Colonial American Heritage Award – Savannah Warga, Logan Penachio – Largo Palm Harbor University High School – Senior Group Performance “Farewell to Kings”
- African American Heritage Award – Aaron Montchal, Christian Moreno, Lucas Skyers – Seminole High School – Senior Group Performance “Emmett Till”
1st Place
- Junior Group Documentary “Pioneering the National Parks” – Amelia Lane, Tyler Jones, Walton Kent – Dunedin Highland Middle School, teacher is Teresa Bergstrom
- Junior Group Performance “Boston Tea Party of 1773” – Aarush Shah, Liam Jacobs, Matthew Sherrell, Saashiv Gupta, Sahith Popuri – Dunedin Highland Middle School, teacher is Teresa Bergstrom
- Junior Group Website “The Seneca Sisters Seek Suffrage Rights” – James Bohn, Kennedy Hang, Melina Garcia-Pascual – Dunedin Highland Middle School, teacher is Teresa Bergstrom
- Junior Research Paper “From Segregation to Strength in Solidarity: The Montgomery Bus Boycott” – Ritchel Mesidor – Dunedin Highland Middle School, teacher is Teresa Bergstrom
2nd Place
- 2nd Place Senior Group Website “Soweto Uprising” – Diya Dipu Nair, Ellie Kim, Hana Weeks, Tiffany Siev – Largo High School, teacher is Ellen Whitlock
3rd Place
- 3rd Place Junior Group Documentary “Penicillin: The Shot Heard Round the World” – Chloe Lin, Nidhi Reddy – Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School, teacher is Michael Butler
- 3rd Place Junior Group Performance “Matchgirl’s Strike of 1888” – Ayana Kotadya, Jana Abutaleb, Josie Yanda, Kate Hurme, Shayna Graff – Dunedin Highland Middle School, teacher is Teresa Bergstrom
- 3rd Place Senior Group Performance “Emmett Till” – Aaron Montchal, Christian Moreno, Lucas Skyers – Seminole High School, teacher is Joshua Roberson
