History Day Projects Head to Nationals

Once again, Breck students excelled at the Minnesota state finals for History Day. Twelve of the 14 participating projects at state became state finalists, and three Middle School students and one Upper School students will go on to compete at nationals in June.

• Hugh Van Heesewijk and Andrew Engel received second in the Group Exhibit category for their presentation of the Minnesota Tobacco Settlement. They move on to nationals.

• Nicholas Thyr received first in the state for individual exhibit for his presentation of the Homestead Steel Strike. Nicholas also received a topical prize in the area of Labor. He moves on to nationals.

• In History Day Senior Division, Upper School student Jessica Christy received first in the state and will participate in nationals as well.

The following projects also placed at state: Libby Castle and Nicki Simpson (third place, alternates for nationals in the group exhibit category, Frankie Mork (fourth place in the individual exhibit category), and Roshny Vijayakar (fourth place in the paper category).

Honorable mentions went to Alejandro Fenn, Caleb Kumar and Darius Bieganski for  individual exhibits, Joia Felton and Paige Dempsey for group performance, Abby Erdmann and Lyssa Freese for individual documentaries, and Michelle Christy, who won a topical prize for women's history.

Congratulations to all!