Three BGPS students win at state, advance to National History Day Finals 

National History Day winners

After top finishes in the state competition, three Battle Ground Public Schools students are headed to the National History Day Finals. Only the top two finishers in each category advance to the national finals, which will be held virtually this year and streamed online on June 20 beginning at noon at https://www.nhd.org/virtual2020awards.

Reagan Lund, a ninth grade student at Prairie High School, is competing in the senior division of the Individual Website category with his project “Japanese Americans Breaking Racial Barriers During World War II.” 

Gabriel Vu, an eighth grader at Pleasant Valley Middle School, is competing in the junior division of the Individual Website category with his project “Agent Orange: Contaminating Americans and Vietnamese.” 

Colton McCall, an eighth grader at Pleasant Valley Middle School, is competing in the junior division of the Individual Performance category for his project “Breaking Barriers to Restore 1855 Treaty Fishing Rights.” 

“Doing well at the state level of the National History Day Competition is itself a huge accomplishment,” said Rene Soohoo, history teacher at Pleasant Valley Middle School. “The competition at the national level is fierce, as students are competing against a hundred other projects in their categories. Students get so much out of History Day that winning the state championship and advancing to nationals is icing on the metaphorical academic research cake, and I am very proud of them.” 

National History Day is a dynamic program that encourages students to become historians by developing research, analysis, presentation and social skills. Students select a topic related to an annual national theme and work individually or in groups to conduct extensive historical research using primary and secondary sources. 

This year’s theme is “Breaking Barriers in History.” Based on this theme, the students conducted research and analysis before developing projects such as research papers, performances, documentaries, websites, and more. 

The national finals are typically held each June at the University of Maryland in College Park, just outside of Washington, D.C. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s national competition will be held virtually. 

The National History Day organization and its state affiliate, Washington History Day, provide leading-edge training and curriculum materials to help educators meet and exceed education standards.