Twelve Wyoming students placed at the recent National History Day competition at the University of Maryland -- fronted by Lander's Robert Coulter, who earned the Cowboy State's lone first-place award.
Coulter, a student in Kendra Bush's class at South Elementary School, won top honors in the Junior Division for Individual Documentary. His entry was titled, "Senekerim Dohanian: Uncle Sam's Ace Insect Hunter."
The other Wyoming winners were:
Jacob Zumo, last year's champion in the Junior Division for Individual Documentary, finished in 10th place out of 91 entries. A student at East High School in Cheyenne, Zumo's teacher is Jennifer Calvetti.
Kirstie and Kaylee Lind of Jessup Elementary School in Cheyenne placed 11th out of 87 entries in the Group Documentary category. Their teacher is Bridget Dubberley.
Kennedy Thatch, from Starrett Junior High in Lander, took ninth place out of 76 entries in the Individual Performance division. Her teacher is Stacey Polson.
Alexandra Briere and London Homer-Wambeam, who are both homeschooled in Laramie, finished fifth out of 84 entries in the Group Performance category. They were also recognized with the Junior Division Outstanding Entry from Wyoming Award.
Louisa Austin and Montanna Sannes, also from Starrett Junior High in Lander and students of Polson, placed 11th in Group Performance.
Ciara Foldenauer, a student at Natrona County High School in Casper, won a scholarship from Chaminade University in Hawaii for her entry in the Senior Division Web site category. Her teacher is Bruce Berst.
Mary Jane Schmidt and Shelby Brown, from Big Piney High School, won the outstanding state award for the Senior Division. Their teacher is Jonita Summers.
"While the bulk of credit for their fine showing naturally goes to the students and their mentors/teachers, I believe a small measure of praise should also go to those who, in one way or another, made it possible for them to qualify for this national competition," says Dick Kean, Wyoming History Day state coordinator at the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center. "I think these students found the NHD competition to be an especially rewarding experience and I expect we will see many of them back again at the 2010 Wyoming History Day State Contest."
The top two finishers from the state competition advanced to the national event, held June 15-19 in College Park, Md. The NHD competition brings together the top students in grades 6-12 from each of the 50 states.
Wyoming History Day is sponsored by the Wyoming State Historical Society in cooperation with the UW American Heritage Center and the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.
Posted on Wednesday, July 22, 2009