Two MHS seniors are national qualifiers in National History Day

Marshalltown High School seniors Emily Miller, second from left, and Phoebe Osgood, third from left, have been named national qualifiers in National History Day after the state championships in Des Moines on April 29. Also pictured are Lynne O’Hara, left, of National History Day and Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs Director Chris Kramer, right.

Seven Marshalltown Community School District students competed at the National History Day Iowa championships held at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines on April 29.

Marshalltown High School seniors Emily Miller and Phoebe Osgood were national qualifiers in senior group performance for their project titled “Pardon my sanity in a World Insane: The Life and Legacy of Emily Dickinson.” Emily and Phoebe will now compete in the national championship held at the University of Maryland, June 9-13.

Other students also had noteworthy performances. MHS junior Lucas Kramer was a national qualifier alternate for his senior individual exhibit titled “The Cuban Missile Crisis: How Effective Compromise Prevented Nuclear Tragedy.” In the junior division, Miller Middle School students Averi Bolar and Jason Strand were finalists in the junior performance division with “Hans & Sophie Scholl: The Power of Words.”

Also competing in the senior division was Mary Kate Gruening in senior individual exhibit titled “Helen Keller: Overcoming Tragedy by Using a Triumphant Voice” and Erin Stanley in senior individual website titled “The Iowa Hog Lift: How a Calamity Created an International Friendship.”

The state contest represents a culmination of students’ hard work over the entire year. They started in September by choosing topics related to this year’s theme “Triumph and Tragedy in History.” This was followed by extensive research, development of a thesis, and finally creation of their products as well as an annotated bibliography.

“Marshalltown should be very proud of these students’ accomplishments,” said MHS Extended Learning Program teacher Susan Fritzell.

This year’s National History Day projects will be presented at the MHS library on Wednesday, May 8 from 5 to 6 p.m. These presentations will be open to the public.