Members of the Class of 2016 made their own history yesterday at History Day in Connecticut, where they placed first in six of their eight categories.
The students, who participated through their US History Honors classes, submitted projects ranging from papers and exhibits to documentaries and websites. A full list of winners is provided below.
Sarah Benjamin ’16 and Jillian Kleiner ’16 won first place for their website “Father Panik Village and the Federal Housing Act.”
“In history class, we watched a movie about Pruitt Igoe, a public housing facility that was demolished in St. Louis,” Kleiner said. “After watching the movie, we were interested in finding another public housing facility in Bridgeport, CT. That facility was called Yellow Mill Village.”
“We chose it because it wasn’t well known,” said Benjamin. “And we were curious as to how the projects affected people in Bridgeport and why it collapsed.”
Kleiner and Benjamin, who said the project took about a month to complete, were thrilled to learn they would be moving onto the state competition.
“It was really exciting to win because we got to see all our hard work and effort pay off,” Benjamin said.
Rebecca Oestreicher ’16 and Kyle Ratner ’16 saw their endeavors succeed when they received first place medals for their video The Revolving Industry.
Ratner said he and Oestreicher chose to focus on the gun industry because it went well with the theme of the competition — rights and responsibilities.
“It felt really good to win that reward,” he said. “I really was not expecting to get first place.”
With one medal to their names, these sophomores will compete again on April 26 at Central Connecticut State University with the hopes of moving onto the national level.
Contest Results:
Individual Museum Exhibit
1st place: Arjun Dhindsa
Group Museum Exhibit
1st place: Maddy Fodor and Angela Yu
2nd place: George Menz, Jackson Daines, Raymond Chien, Simon Ginsberg
3rd place: Anna Eichorn, Susan Zec, Doug Raigosa
Individual Documentary
1st place: Nicolas Ribolla
2nd place: Aaron Samuels
Group Documentary
1st place: Rebecca Oestreicher, Kyle Ratner
2nd place: Katherine Hertan, Ruth Kissel, Emma Finn, Talia Hendel
3rd place: Eliana Aronson, Jennifer Martin
Individual Website
1st place: Madison Jarvis
2nd place: Jon Dedomenico
3rd place: Ben Goldstein
Group Website
1st place: Jillian Kleiner, Sarah Benjamin
2nd place: Jane Schutte, Miranda Saunders
3rd place: Emma Lederer, Alex Suppan
Paper
3rd place: Georgia Fox
