Cape students shine in annual history competition
Results of the 2009 Lee County History Fair show that Cape Coral students in the top three among others from across the county. Twelve middle and five high schools participated in the history fair that has been a staple in the county for the past 16 years.
This year’s theme was “The Individual in History: Actions and Legacies,” which asks students to examine the lives of important historical figures in their projects. In Lee County students covered a plethora of individuals ranging from Andy Warhol to Alexander the Great.
Each year the theme changes, explained Tamara Hagen, a teacher at Cypress Lake Middle and district history fair coordinator. Last year it was “Conflict and Compromise,” and next year will be “Innovations in History.”
“I think the changing theme of the year allows them to have a great deal of flexibility in the topics they choose,” said Hagen. “Everyone chooses a project they like so they enjoy reading and researching about them.”
There are seven categories for students to choose from in the history fair – an individual exhibit, group exhibit, historical paper, individual documentary, group documentary, individual performance and group performance.
On Saturday, Dunbar Middle hosted the county fair for the junior division. The first and second place winners are invited to the state competition in Tallahassee, but all students receive a certificate of participation and a medal.
Thirty-four middle school students and a handful from high schools will venture to Tallahassee Community College on May 7. If any of those students are ranked first or second, they will move on to the national competition at the University of Maryland at College Park in June.
Dr. Ronald Young, history teacher at Canterbury’s Upper School, said the fair allows students to be true historians.
“Students must carry out the same type of primary historical research that professional historians conduct,” he said. “I am extremely proud of the hard work these students put into their projects.”
Not every school requires students to complete a history project, said Hagen. Some have the entire school work on a project while others reserve it for eighth graders, but ultimately it’s the decision of each individual school.
For more information on the history fair, visit www.floridahistoryfair.com.
2009 Junior Division Results
for the Lee County History Fair:
Individual Exhibit
First Place Theodore Maiman:
Inventor of the Death Ray
Benjamin Thomas-Larocque,
Cypress Lake Middle
Second Place Pass Me the Pop:
Warhol’s Legacy
Veronica Stewart,
Trafalgar Middle
Third Place Levi’s Legend:
A Riveting Story of an
American Signature
Audrey Worboys, Trafalgar Middle
Group Exhibit
First Place Jackie Robinson
Daniel Cuadrao and Cole Ondrejka, Diplomat Middle
Second Place Thomas Edison
Kevin Feiock and Adam VanNetta, Cypress Lake Middle
Third Place Martin Luther
Justin Irizarry and Daniel Colmenares, Diplomat
Historical Paper
First Place Jacob Riis: Reform
Through The Lens
Emily Morauski, Cypress Lake Middle
Second Place Robert Rauschenberg: A Legacy Built on Creativity
Jacob Taminosian, Cypress Lake Middle
Third Place Ayn Rand:
Champion of Individualism
Isabella LeVan, Gulf Middle
Individual Documentary
First Place The Irreplaceable
Coco Chanel
Sara Jackson, Diplomat Middle
Second Place Alfred Peet
Stephanie Wilson, Cypress Lake Middle
Third Place Salvador Dali
Michelle Montoya, Diplomat Middle
Group Documentary
First Place Ordinary Hero:
Miep Gies
Tisha Saylor and Dianelys Barrios,
Diplomat Middle
Second Place Jim Jones:
The Life & Legacy of a Man
Who Called Himself God
Nishani Karunamuni, David Barrow
and Elizabeth Harmon,
P.L. Dunbar Middle
Third Place Laughing
with Lucille Ball
Carly Gunderson and Alaina Silva, Diplomat Middle
Individual Performance
First Place Alexander the Great
Rob Owen, Diplomat Middle
Second Place Founder of Girl Scouts
Delaney Evans, Diplomat Middle
Third Place Betty Freidan
Gabriela Pickett, Canterbury School
Group Performance
First Place Adolph Sax
Justin Exposito and Hunter Osking, Diplomat Middle
Second Place Andrew Lloyd Webber
Tyler Elman, Madison Vogelbach, Tori Woodcock and Abraham Duarte, Diplomat Middle
Third Place Back from the Past: Featuring Isaac Newton
Alexandra Mackey, Rachel Donohue
and Ashley Rogers, Gulf Middle
2009 Senior Division Results
for the Lee County History Fair:
Historical Papers
First Place – James Edward Oglethorpe
Alexandria Hadd, Riverdale High
Second Place – Iron and Blood: The Life and Politics of Otto Von Bismarck
Sarah-Marie Hopf, Canterbury School
Third Place – Josip Broz Tito: The First and Last Yugoslav
Sanja Hotic, Canterbury School
Individual Exhibit
First Place – Sam Walton: An Overview of the Life and Legacy
of the King of Discounts
Bobby Mercer, Canterbury School
Second Place – For Once, It Is Set in Stone: Jean-Francois Champollion
and the Rosetta Stone
John Badir, Canterbury School
Third Place – The Way to Have Power
is To Take It: Boss Tweed
Will Heise, Canterbury School
Individual Performance
First Place – The Suicide of Cleopatra
Maria Metaweh, Canterbury School
Second Place – Muhammad Ali
Alvin Barnes, East Lee High
Group Exhibit
First Place – John Locke: Unparalleled Dynamism in a Remarkable Era
Danny Domingo, James Hall, Michael Jugan, Lauren Pellecchia
and Grady Simon, Canterbury School
Second Place – Elizabeth Blackwell
Alli Sanfilippo and Lauren Ursoleo,
South Fort Myers High
Third Place – Ernesto Che Guevara
de la Serena
Josh Liebowitz, Neil Singh, Vaib Penukonda, Adam Yudelman and Griffin Horvath, Canterbury School
Group Documentary
First Place – Bloody Mary: A Catholic Queen Ruling a Protestant Nation
David Knific, Kelly Mercer, Bahar Shah and Barkha Shah, Canterbury School
Second Place – W: The Man, The Myth
Justin Gannon, Zac Vealey, Steven Propper, Fabian Canul and Sheldon Reed, Riverdale High
Individual Documentaries
First Place – Marjorie Stoneman Douglas
Joseph Wecher, Mariner High
Second Place – Jesus
Michael Burris, South Fort Myers High
Third Place – Sigmund Freud: The Unconscious Mind
Brooke Harris, Riverdale High