FRANKFORT, Ky.  — Students from around the Commonwealth were rewarded for their talents and research in history at the Kentucky Junior Historical Society (KJHS) 2012 Conference and Kentucky History Day at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort on Friday, April 27, and Saturday, April 28. 

KJHS is part of the National History Day program, a yearlong academic program focused on promoting historical research by students in sixth through 12th grades. Students analyze the historical significance of their personally chosen topics and present conclusions in dramatic performances, imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries, websites and research papers. State winners have the opportunity to compete at the national level at the University of Maryland in June. The theme for this year’s contest was “Revolution, Reaction and Reform in History.”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Kentucky Junior Historical Society. KJHS alumni were invited to serve as judges in the state competition and to network and reconnect with other alumni and Kentucky Historical Society staff. The weekend culminated in an awards ceremony with a keynote speech delivered by Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes at the Grand Theatre in downtown Frankfort.

This year also marks the largest participation at Kentucky History Day to date. More than 600 students, representing 20 counties, participated in the weekend’s activities.

Through KJHS, students gain valuable skills and make lasting connections with peers and educators that will benefit them long after they graduate.

“If my mentor, Mrs. Hunt, had not first encouraged me to compete as a freshman, I would have lost a crucial chance to begin improving my analytical and communication skills. Thanks to her, I feel fully prepared to continue studying history as a college student in the fall,” said Shelly Zhou, senior at duPont Manual High School in Louisville and outgoing KJHS board president. She was referring to duPont Manual High School social studies teacher Allison Hunt, who was named the state winner of the Patricia Behring National History Day Teacher of the Year award at the conference.

Winners of the 2012 Kentucky Junior Historical Society Conference and Kentucky History Day Awards are as follows:

Campbell County

Kentucky History Day Awards

• Rebecca Thome, Madeline Anderson; Highlands High School; first place; senior group performance; “Harlem Renaissance.”
• Allison Camm; Highlands High School; first place; senior individual performance; “Classy Vaudeville.”
• Max Freyberger; Highlands High School; second place; senior individual documentary; “Indian Independence: A New Kind of Revolution.”
• Allie Darpel, Abby Roebker, Maddie Rose, Molly Mayer, Ellie Fathman; Notre Dame Academy; first place; senior group website; “The Germ Theory: Revolution in Medicine.”

Kentucky History Day Special Prize

Amanda Macke, Maggie Flanagan; Notre Dame Academy; Outstanding Women’s History Project (sponsored by the Kentucky Commission on Women); “Fashion Flip: Fussy to Flirty.”

Fayette County

Kentucky History Day Awards

• Nia Johnson: Tates Creek High School; first place; senior individual exhibit; “Chain Reaction.”
• Matthew Russell; Russell Homeschool; second place; senior paper; “The Integrated Circuit: Reacting to Limitations and Revolutionizing the Modern World.”
• Jamie Smith, Neha Kadambi; Winburn Middle School; first place; junior group exhibit; “The Fight Without a War: India’s Revolutionary Road to Independence.”
• Dasha Kolyaskina, Nikki Southall; Winburn Middle School; second place; junior group exhibit; “The Attack From Within: The Sonderkommando Uprising of 1944.”
• Sai Naidu; Winburn Middle School; first place; junior individual exhibit; “Feel Better Soon! Challenges Faced in Health Care Reform.”
• Chelsea Carr; Winburn Middle School; second place; junior individual exhibit; “John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry Sparked the Civil War.”
• Amelia Rogers, David Rader; Edythe J. Hayes Middle School; first place; junior group documentary; “How Madeline McDowell Breckinridge’s Southern Insight and Heritage Affected the Women’s Suffrage Movement.”
• Anya Slepyan, Cameron Walton; Winburn Middle School; second place; junior group documentary; “Skeletons in the Art: Danse Macabre and the Black Death.”
• Joanna Slusarewicz; Winburn Middle School; first place; junior individual documentary; “Respectfully Submitted, Dorothea Dix.”
• Kayla Beebout; Winburn Middle School; second place; junior individual documentary; “A Woman’s Work is Never Done: How the Lowell Mill Girls Contributed to Early Labor Reforms.”
• Madison Wheeler; Winburn Middle School; second place; junior individual website; “Better Than 1775 or 1812: British Invade the 1960s.”
• Ronit Kar, Ben Xie, Nisarg Patil, Gavin Sullivan; Winburn Middle School; first place; junior group website; “A More Powerful Force: The Nonviolent Revolution to Bring India to Freedom.”
• Meenakshi Singhal, Daryn Smith; Winburn Middle School; second place; junior group website; “Charles Darwin: What Do You Mean Survival of the Fittest?”
• Aislinn Langley; Winburn Middle School; second place; junior paper; “Welcome to the Jungle: Chicago’s Meatpacking Industry.”
• Jaycee Taylor, Catey Nash, Mary Grace Timmons, Lindsey Angel, Claire Dilger; Christ the King School; second place; youth group exhibit; “Underground Railroad”
• Addison Goan; Glendover Elementary; first place; youth individual exhibit; “Louisville’s Flood of 1937.” 

Franklin County

Kentucky History Day Awards

• Rebecca Penn; Elkhorn Middle School; second place; junior individual performance; “Niedergeschlagen (Depressed).”
• Rishabh Kapoor; Elkhorn Middle School; first place; junior paper; “Charles Darwin: The Man Who Questioned the Unquestionable.”

Green County

Kentucky Junior Historical Society Conference Winners

• Amber Miksell; Green County Intermediate School; first place; youth division impromptu composition.
• Gracie Parrott; Green County Intermediate School; second place; youth division impromptu composition.
• Jacob Biggs; Green County Intermediate School; third place; youth division impromptu composition.

Harlan County

Kentucky History Day Awards

• Caleb Ashley, Carter Barnes; Harlan County Christian School; first place; youth group documentary; “Civil War in Kentucky.”
• Rachel Miller, Cade Barnes; Harlan County Christian School; first place; youth group exhibit; “Pine Mountain Settlement School.”

Harrison County

Kentucky Junior Historical Society Conference Winners

Jake Johnson; Harrison County Middle School; first place; junior division history test.

Henderson County

Kentucky History Day Awards

Shelby Buckman; Henderson South Middle School; first place; junior individual website; “War of the Roses: A Revolution in the ‘Right to Rule’.”

Kentucky History Day Special Prize

Taylor Clapp; Henderson South Middle School; Outstanding Early American History Project (sponsored by the Sons of the American Revolution); “The Great American Revolution: A Turn for Independence.”

Jefferson County

Kentucky History Day Awards

• Sarah Charida; Academy for Individual Excellence; second place; senior individual exhibit; “Child Labor: The Road to Reform.”
• Hellary Zhang; duPont Manual High School; first place; senior individual website; “Mao’s Down to the Countryside Movement: Re-education or Lost Opportunities.”
• Alison Davis; duPont Manual High School; second place; senior individual website; “The 1984 Summer Olympics.”
• Jingjing Xiao; duPont Manual High School; first place; senior paper; “Nearest Heaven: The Dual History of the Tibetan Highlands.”
• Samantha Carson Murrell, Addison Combs, Hannah Lauck, Jillian Gregory; Academy for Individual Excellence; first place, junior group performance; “Babies in the Mill.”
• Kevin Combs; Jefferson County Homeschool Chapter; first place; junior individual performance; “Paris NOT Burning! How the FFI Saved Paris in August 1944.”
• Sage Delaney; Jefferson County Homeschool Chapter; second place; youth individual exhibit; “Colonel Sanders: The Road to Success.”

Kentucky History Day Special Prize

Claire Schortmann; Mercy Academy; Outstanding Political History Project (Sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of State); “Sandra Day O’Connor: A Pioneer for Women in Politics.”

Kentucky Junior Historical Society Conference Winners

• Kevin Combs; Jefferson County Homeschool Chapter; second place; junior division history test.
• Jefferson County Homeschool Chapter; youth division, junior division and senior division; history bowl champion.

Kenton County

Kentucky History Day Awards

• Amanda Macke, Maggie Flanagan; Notre Dame Academy; first place; Senior group exhibit; “Fashion Flip: Fussy to Flirty.”
• Hayley Zeis, Lily Weber, Sydney Lenhof; Notre Dame Academy; second place; senior group exhibit; “A Doll’s House.”
• Jessica Vogt, Erin Nurre, Caroline Krumme, Sara Borchers, Emily Bautista; Notre Dame Academy; first place; senior group documentary; “Invention of the Jet Engine.” 
• Moriah Frommeyer, Sarah Gregory, Ashley Donovan, Anna Bradtmueller, Jane Rudnick; Notre Dame Academy; second place; senior group documentary; “The Eradication of Smallpox.” 

Knott County

Kentucky History Day Awards

• Britt Smith, Steven Fugate, Shantel Gonzales; Cordia High School; second place; senior group performance; “Battle of Wildcat Mountain.”
• Paiten Riley, Georgia Hoffman; Hindman Elementary; second place; youth group documentary; “Coal Transportation in Eastern Kentucky.”

McCracken County

Kentucky History Day Awards

Catherine Miller, Alicia Humphrey; Paducah Tilghman High School; second place; senior group website; “Prohibition in the Jazz Age.”

Menifee County

Kentucky History Day Awards

Emma Roach-Barrette; Menifee County High School; first place; senior individual documentary; “Dead Men Do Tell Tales.”

Metcalfe County

Kentucky History Day Awards

• John Hammer; Summer Shade Elementary; first place; youth individual documentary; “Civil War in Kentucky.”
• Haley Leach; Summer Shade Elementary; second place; youth individual documentary; “Cumberland Falls.”

Kentucky Junior Historical Society Conference Winners

• Grant Edwards; Summer Shade Elementary; first place; youth division history test.
• Haley Leach; Summer Shade Elementary; second place; youth division history test.
• Parker Isenberg; Summer Shade Elementary; third place; youth division history test.

Pendleton County

Kentucky History Day Awards

Mikinley Grace Lustenberg, Allison Lenox, Morgan McKinney; Phillip A. Sharp Middle School; second place; junior group performance; “Out With a Flash: How the Camera Affected Art.” 

Pike County

Kentucky History Day Special Prize

Sydney Scott, Chessa Thacker, Taylor Totten; Pike County Central High School; Outstanding WWII History Project (sponsored by the Central Kentucky WWII Roundtable); “Living Behind Barbed Wire: Japanese-American Internment Camps.”

Shelby County

Kentucky History Day Awards

Ethan Russell; Shelby County High School; second place; senior individual performance; “The Assassination of William McKinley: Death of a Revolution.”

Kentucky History Day Special Prizes

• Jeron Russell; Shelby East Middle School; Outstanding Sports History Project (sponsored by the Kentucky Sports Authority); “Entertainment Sheep: How Curt Flood Changed Baseball Through Revolution, Reaction, and Reform.”
• Nancy Clark; Shelby East Middle School; Outstanding Civil War History Project (sponsored by the Madison County Civil War Roundtable); “John Brown: Hero or Villain.”

Kentucky Junior Historical Society Conference Winners

• Jeron Russell; Shelby East Middle School; first place; junior division impromptu composition.
• Luke Brown; Shelby East Middle School; second place; junior division impromptu composition.
• Mattie Roach; Shelby East Middle School; third place; junior division impromptu composition.
• Logan Johnson; Shelby County High School; first place; senior division impromptu composition.
• Ethan Russell; Shelby County High School; second place; senior division impromptu composition.
• Adrienne Holtzworth; Shelby County High School; third place; senior division impromptu composition.
• Emma Saarinen; Shelby East Middle School; third place; junior division history test.
• Logan Johnson; Shelby County High School; first place; senior division history test.
• Zach Brown; Shelby County High School; second place; senior division history test.

For more information on the Kentucky Historical Society's Junior Historical Society, click here.