Audrey Deines, left, and Sarah Sanders competed in the Junior Group Exhibit category with a rotating exhibit exploring the impact of Gutenberg’s printing press. Courtesy/LAPS

Brandon Keller, center, took first place in the Junior Paper category and will be competing at the NHD National Contest in June. Evan Cunningham, left, and Isaac Light, right, won third place in the Junior Group Documentary category, and are alternates for the National Contest. Courtesy/LAPS

LAPS News:

Five Piñon Elementary School 6th grade students were among more than 200 students across the state who competed in the National History Day State Contest at the University of New Mexico last Saturday. These students all placed in their categories at the regional contest in March and had the opportunity to take their projects on to the next level.

For the National History Day contest, students choose a historical event and analyze it through the lens of the yearly theme. This year’s theme is “Turning Points in History”. NHD encourages students to conduct research, synthesize information, and communicate their findings through one of five different categories (paper, exhibit, documentary, performance or website).

Brandon Keller won first place in the Junior Paper category for his paper “The Manhattan Project” which explored the decision to pursue the Fat Man atomic bomb instead of the Thin Man bomb. Brandon is a national qualifier and will be competing at the NHD National Contest at the University of Maryland in June.

Evan Cunningham and Isaac Light won third place in the Junior Group Documentary category for their documentary, “A Boat, A Battle, and A Small Town in Maine”, about the first naval battle of the Revolutionary War. They are alternates for the National Contest.

Sarah Sanders and Audrey Deines competed in the Junior Group Exhibit category with a rotating exhibit exploring the impact of Gutenberg’s printing press.

National History Day started in Cleveland, Ohio in 1974 with 129 students. Today, more than half a million students enter through local contests. Students then compete in a series of regional contests with top entries advancing to affiliate, then state contests. At state contests, the top two entries in each category and division are invited to compete at the National History Day contest.

Pinon Elementary 6th graders from left, Brandon Keller, Isaac Light, Evan Cunningham, Sarah Sanders and Audrey Deines competed at the National History Day State Contest at UNM last weekend. Courtesy/LAPS