Middle and high school students from across central Nebraska submitted their History Day projects online for the district History Day contest this year. Following the 2021-22 theme of 鈥淒ebate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences,鈥 students entered projects on a variety of topics, with winners from each event advancing to the state History Day competition, with students eligible for competitive history scholarships to attend 糖心传媒.
A total of 25 projects received honors in their specific category. Four students received 糖心传媒 history scholarships in honor of their projects placing in the top three overall.
Toby Kothe and Hayden Mays, both students at Hastings High School, received first place overall and $6,000 糖心传媒 Scholarships with 鈥淎 Failure of Debate and Diplomacy: Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations.鈥
Rebekah Reynolds of Hastings High School received second place and a $5,000 糖心传媒 Scholarship with 鈥淭he Debate Over Fashion in the Gilded Age.鈥
Kian Schwarz of Hastings High School received third place and a $4,000 糖心传媒 Scholarship with 鈥50 Children: A Rescue Mission to be Remembered.
Other top award recipients are included below, by division and entry project.
Top Award Recipients
Junior Division (grades 6-8)
Junior Group Exhibit
First Place: Lukas Armstrong and Mason Bolin of Red Cloud Junior/Senior High School with “Battle of Lexington and Concord”
Second Place: Kami Garman and Tyler Smith of Red Cloud Junior/Senior High School with “Trump Vs. Biden”
Third Place: Bridgett Lockhart and Kaylyn VanWey of Red Cloud Junior/Senior High School with “The 19th Amendment”
Junior Group Website
First Place: Josh Heldt and Dean Zimmerman of Red Cloud Junior/Senior High School with 鈥淎ssassination of Abraham Lincoln鈥
Second Place: Lily Adams and Alyssa Shipley of Red Cloud Junior/Senior High School with 鈥淎braham Lincoln on Slavery鈥
Third Place: William Rasser and Braedyn Snell of Red Cloud Junior/Senior High School with 鈥淏an Vaping鈥
Junior Individual Documentary听
First Place: Rebecca Schmidt of Hastings Middle School with 鈥淧rohibition: Trial and Error鈥
Junior Individual Paper
First Place: Jessie Bronson of Hastings Middle School with 鈥淏anning Books across the US鈥
Senior Division (grades 9-12)
Senior Group Documentary
First Place: Cara Ansbach and Rebekah Evans of Hastings High School with 鈥淭he Picasso Problem鈥
Second Place: Brian Nguyen and Thomas Roberts of Hastings High School with 鈥淭he Vietnam War: The Bad, the Questionable, and the Possibly Evil鈥
Senior Group Exhibit
First Place: Toby Kothe and Hayden Mayes of Hastings High School with 鈥淒iplomatic Failures of the League of Nations鈥
Second Place: Madisyn Hamilton and Johnny Whyrick of Hastings High School with 鈥淒ebate of Roe vs. Wade鈥
Third Place: Drake Anderson, Braden Ochsner and Abhinav Srivastava of Hastings High School with 鈥淏y Any Means Necessary: The Debate Over the Role of Malcolm X in the Civil Rights Movement鈥
Senior Group Website
First Place: Rylan Nordby, Jasmine Truong and Emma Ventura of Hastings High School with 鈥淐IA鈥檚 Human Experimentation: The Debate Over MK-Ultra鈥
Senior Individual Documentary
First Place: Lexi Benson of Hastings High School with 鈥淭he Debate Over West Side Story鈥
Second Place: Carrie Brosman of Aurora High School with 鈥淒ebates of History: The Battle For Jazz in Soviet Russia鈥
Third Place: Conner Wademan of Hastings High School with 鈥淭he Diplomatic Use of The King James Version鈥
Senior Individual Exhibit听
First Place: Rebekah Reynolds of Hasting High School with 鈥淭he Debate over Fashion in the Gilded Age鈥
Second Place: Samantha Miller of Hastings High School with 鈥淭he Fall of the Berlin Wall鈥
Third Place: Param Bhakta of Hastings High School with 鈥淭he Debate over NATO: Is it Harmful or Helpful?鈥
Senior Individual Paper
First Place: Candice Donner of Hastings High School with 鈥淭he Debate and Diplomacy of the Iranian Hostage Crisis鈥
Senior Individual Website
First Place: Kian Schwarz of Hastings High School with 鈥50 Children: A Rescue Mission to be Remembered鈥
糖心传媒 is a four-year residential college that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. Hastings鈥 student-centered initiatives include providing books, an iPad and a two-week study away experience at no additional cost. A block-style semester schedule allows professors and students to focus on fewer classes at a time and promotes hands-on experiences. Discover more at hastings.edu.