Chief Umtuch Middle School sends 16 students to state National History Day competition

BATTLE GROUND – More than half of the Chief Umtuch Middle School students who participated in the regional National History Day event at iTech Prep on March 8 in Vancouver are headed to the state competition in Kirkland in April.

The theme for the 50th anniversary of the competition is Rights & Responsibilities in History, focusing on questions such as “who decides who has rights?” and “how have people, governments or institutions decided what parameters should be set to enforce responsibilities?”

Eighth-grader Zelia Anderson took home first place at regionals with her individual exhibit on the Radium Girls, a group of women who developed serious health consequences in the early 20th century after working with paint containing the radioactive substance on the job. Their case helped scientists understand the risks associated with radium and guided government regulations to establish better safety standards.

Lorelai Wilde and Avery Popkes-Perez created a website detailing the history of the Rajneesh cult that formed in Antelope, Ore, in the 1980s.

Alyson Seleen Ovando took home a top prize with her paper on the stock market crash of 1929.

DJ Frazier, Seiji Garcia, Zander Holton and Harrison Parker tackled the internment of Japanese Americans and others during World War II.

“The National History Day program has been a critical part of what we do for over a decade,” said Beth Doughty, a teacher in the school’s ASPIRE program said.

Other students who are moving on to the state competition include:

• Noah Sawczuk, first place, individual documentary on the Nuremberg trials.
• Lilly Alcock, second place, individual exhibit on Title IX in women’s sports.
• Addie Staley, third place, individual exhibit on the assassinated conservationist Dian Fossey.
• Eva Tormohlen, fourth place, individual exhibit on the Actresses Franchise League.
• Breena Gilliland and Scarlette Tenold, first place, group documentary on Castle Bravo.
• Olive DeGiovanni and Brooklynn Lee, fifth place, group exhibit on Sequoia National Park.