The 2006 National History Day regional competition for Lehigh and Northampton County students was held March 11 and 18 at Penn State Lehigh Valley, Fogelsville. Students in grades six through 12 competed with a variety of history projects based on this year's theme, "Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas and Events."
Outstanding entries from schools throughout the Lehigh Valley were offered in the categories of: individual historical papers, individual exhibits, group exhibits, individual performances, group performances, individual documentaries and group documentaries. The following is a list of the winners who will proceed on to the state competition in May at University Park.
Papers
-- Senior Division: Raaj Parekh, Parkland High School, "John F. Kennedy's Stand Against Communism"; Alex Stein, Parkland High School, "The Hypocrisy of the American Dream: How the U.S. Took an Unconstitutional Stand Against the Cherokee Nation"; and Meredith Gennaro, Emmaus High School, "Charles Dickens: Taking a Stand through the Power of the Pen."
-- Junior Division: Alex Stiles, Orefield Middle School, "The Boxer Rebellion: Taking a Stand Against the Foreign Devils"; Abigail Geisel, Orefield Middle School, "Uncovering the Impact of the Molly Maguires"; and Soham Roy, East Hills Middle School, "The Salt March: A Turning Point in Indian History."
Exhibits
-- Senior individual: Tyler Minnich, Emmaus High School, "Convention, Creation, Compromise: Taking a Stand for a Strong Federal Government"; Stephen Laughran, Emmaus High School, "Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics: Taking a Stand for Blacks and Against the Nazis"; and Noreen Petrash, Allentown Central Catholic High School, "Eleanor Roosevelt Took a Stand for the Rights of Mankind."
-- Senior group: Bridget DeSandis and Katie DeSandis, Emmaus High School, "The U.S. Children's Bureau Taking a Stand Against Child Labor in the Industrial Revolution"; Rachel Amiano, Allison Fronheiser and Meghan Kelly, Allentown Central Catholic High School, "Tea in the Sea"; and Peter McCullough and Peter Rovito, Allentown Central Catholic High School, "Weapons over Workers: The High Price of National Security."
-- Junior individual: Danielle Rosen, Springhouse Middle School, "Hiding Anne Frank: Taking a Stand Against Nazi Genocide"; Rebecca Holko, Orefield Middle School, "Alex's Lemonade Stand"; and Corinne Bishop, Lower Macungie Middle School, "Taking a Stand for the Confederacy: The St. Alban's Raid."
-- Junior group: Erin Kreider, Alexa Peluso and Alexandra Stinner, St. Thomas More School, "Guernica"; Paul Derkits, Thomas Derkits and Justin Lewis, Cathedral School, "The Alamo"; and Samantha Furin and Melissa Miller, Cathedral School, "Amelia Bloomer Takes a Stand."
Documentaries
-- Senior individual: Paul Rigge, Emmaus High School, "Woodrow Wilson Takes a Stand for the League of Nations"; Paul Ferrera, Emmaus High School, "Dietrich Bonhoffer and His Stand Against Nazi Germany"; and Chiara Orsini, Parkland High School, "Blowing the Whistle on Fraud: The Cynthia Cooper Story."
-- Senior group: Philip Maas and Tyler Reznick-Lipina, Allentown Central Catholic High School, "Nelson Mandela: The Fight Against Apartheid"; Kevin Chen and Emily Su, Emmaus High School, "Taking a Stand Against Communism: The Tiananmen Square Rebellion"; and Rachel Lichtenwalner and Ashlynn Moniz, Emmaus High School, "Mark Felt: Taking a Stand Against the Nixon Presidency."
-- Junior individual: Laura Rigge, St. Thomas More School, "Robert E. Burns' Stand Against Chain Gangs"; Soham Sengupta, East Hills Middle School, "Fighting Sins with Salt: The Story of Dandi March"; and Elena Haag, Eyer Middle School, "Harriet 'Moses' Tubman: Building the Land of the Free."
-- Junior group: Tom Chambers, Kaitlyn Donovan, Jonathan Unger and Christian Kaulis, East Hills Middle School, "The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Hair's Breadth from Disaster"; Taylor Zulli and Tyler Zulli, St. Michael the Archangel, "Harry Truman's Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb"; and Alicia Hull, Sam Wolf and Dan Stinebaugh, Springhouse Middle School, "Gen. Eisenhower and D-Day."
Performances
-- Senior individual: Chrissy Kaufmann, Allentown Central Catholic, "Belva Lockwood: Making a Case Against the Prejudice of Centuries"; Megan Brown, Emmaus High School, "Nellie Bly's Mighty Pen"; and Steven Rosen, Parkland High School, "Simon Wiesenthal: Taking a Stand for Death."
-- Senior group: Kristina DaCosta and Stephanie Liu, Emmaus High School, "Opening the Wardrobe: C.S. Lewis' Stand for Religion and Literature"; Kaitlyn Klingensmith and Lindsay Simock, Parkland High School, "Jane Roberts and Lois Abraham: Challenging the Political Decision of the Government"; Katarina Holmgren and Ariane Osterwald, Emmaus High School, "Taking a Stand in History: Struggles Using the Modern Artificial Limb."
-- Junior individual: Laila Siddiqui, East Hills Middle School, "Taking a Stand to Protect our Children: Megan's Law"; Allie Dunmire, Orefield Middle School, "Sojourner Truth: An Inspiration Beyond Her Generation"; and Connor Tench, Springhouse Middle School, "Joseph Lister and the Sterilization of Surgery."
-- Junior group: Ian Arawjo, Jeremy Fiume and Timur Ozekcin, East Hills Middle School, "How Close We Really Came: The Cuban Missile Crisis"; Eugenia Kim, Sophia Srinivasan and Whitney Zhou, Springhouse Middle School, "Alicia Little: Taking a Stand Against Tradition in China"; and Diana Jolly and Jennifer Yeager, East Hills Middle School, "Covering the Truth with Clay."