Alabama history celebrated at Daphne High School

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Sophomore and junior students at Daphne High School competed for top honors last week at the Alabama 200 Bicentennial History Fair.

Students chose historical topics from Alabama’s past and spent nearly four months researching, writing, crafting and filming their retellings. Students created exhibits, websites and documentaries about their topics and were restricted by the same parameters used in the National History Day program.

“This is our bicentennial project so we really wanted to do something special,” said Katherine Robinson, Daphne High School history teacher. “We really gave the students a lot of range to choose topics and make it more personal.”

In all 200 students took the challenge. They explored the history of space, civil rights, industry and more, recounting life and change in Alabama over the unfolding decades.

“Often history is considered the more boring of the subjects,” said William Jones, Daphne High School curriculum leader. “This has brought new energy into the department. The students have been engrossed in the research process.”

The top 40 projects were chosen to be judged by local university professors. Winners were:

Group Documentary

1st place: Tiffany Tulo, Austin McCormick, Madison James: We the Privileged

2nd place: Nick Dotson, Matthew Simons, Caleb Dyche: Hank Aaron

Individual Website

1st place: Kyle Ackerman: The Tuskegee Tragedy

2nd place: Anna Smith: Rhythms in Alabama

3rd place: Connor Gresham: Huntsville’s Role in the Space Program

Group Website

1st place: Avery Nicholas, Alex Cobb: The Rosa Parks Bus Boycott

2nd place: Chase Mosley, Saylor Scott, Jasmine Morrison: The Tragedy of the Scottsboro Boys

2rd place: Anna Claire Kinsey, Peyton Mann: The Scottsboro Boys

Individual Exhibit

1st place: Nolan Weatherby: The Tuskegee Airmen

2nd place: Cade Reynolds: The Mobile Magazine Explosion

3rd Zoe Dekarske: Rosa Parks – Changing Alabama Forever

Group Exhibit:

1st place: Zoey Bembry, Kaley Jones: Women’s Roles of WWII

2nd place: Kylee Agee, Reagan Coleman: A State Divided

3rd place: Maddie Naquin, Mallori Sanders: 16th Street Church Bombing

Overall Winners:

1st place: Zoey Bembry, Kaley Jones

2nd place: Kyle Ackerman

3rd place: Anna Smith