Sophia D’Amico and Tessa Grethel, both in 7th grade at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School, recently took first place in the state in the National History Day competition (junior group exhibit category).

Their project was titled, ‘Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Origins of Atomic Diplomacy.’ It also covered the consequences during the arms race in the Cold War and relevance today in the war in Ukraine.

Also in the contest, Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School’s Grace Osborne was third in Junior Individual Exhibit with ‘Silent Spring: Rachel Carson’s Fight to Ban DDT.’

Norwich Free Academy’s Joseph Cook took second place in the Senior Individual Exhibit category in the state National History Day competition with “Duck Diplomacy: How Walt Disney Saved FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy,” and NFA’s Brendan Bezanson was second in the Senior Individual Documentary category with “Paving the Way or Spoiling the Day? The Unintended Consequences of FDR’s Agricultural Adjustment Act.”

Also, the Prize for Outstanding Entry in American Legal History, Senior Division went to NFA’s Kara Kuang for “Griswold v. Connecticut: The Government Is My Husband?”

NFA’s Jeffrey Li won Outstanding Entry in Asian American History for “Chinese Exclusion Act: Immigration Immobilized.”

In the Senior Individual Performance, Pine Point School’s Cecilia Zimbelmann was third place for ‘The Destruction of Indigenous Cultures Through Canadian Residential Schools.’

In the Senior Division, Pine Point’s Hannah Satran won a special prize for ‘The Effects the Declaration of Sentiments Had on the Public and the Suffrage Movement.’

Connecticut History Day annually engages over 4,000 middle- and high-school students in historical research, interpretation, and creative expression through project based learning.

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