Murray, Open World Learning Students Qualify for 2024 National History Day

Students from Battle Creek Middle School, Global Arts Plus Upper, Murray Middle School, Open World Learning, Highland Park Middle School, Como Park Senior, Central High School, and Washington Technology Magnet School competed in the 2024 Minnesota State History Day on Saturday, April 20, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The annual History Day competition is an interdisciplinary research project for students in grades 6-12 that teaches them to:

• Conduct in-depth research

• Use primary and secondary sources

• Read a variety of texts

• Analyze and synthesize information

• Write and present historical content

Participants choose a topic that relates to an annual theme, research that topic, and present their research in one of five categories: Research Paper, Exhibit, Documentary, Performance, or Website. Students may then enter their projects into History Day competitions at school, regional, state, and national levels. The 2024 theme is Turning Points in History. 

Students from two SPPS schools placed first or second in their category at the state competition, qualifying them to compete at the national contest: 

Open World Learning (OWL)

• Zania won the Junior Paper category for a research paper about the creation of the birth control pill

• Abby, Beatrice, Charley, and Maisy won Junior Group Performance for their depiction of the Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court case

• Anya and Claire came in second for Senior Group Documentary for their film about the Minneapolis trucker strike of 1934

Murray Middle School

• Charlie, Emmett, and Peter won Junior Group Documentary for their movie about the Seven Countries Study on diet and cardiovascular disease

• Maeve got second place for Junior Individual Documentary for their short film about pioneering children’s TV shows

• Slyvia came in second for their Junior Individual Website about World War II spy Virginia Hall

• Scout got second place for their Junior Individual Exhibit about Griswold v. Connecticut

Several other SPPS students placed third-fifth or received honorable mentions at the state competition. Click here for the full results. Students from Como Park, Highland Park, Murray, and OWL also won topical prizes. 2024 National History Day will be in College Park, Maryland, June 9-13. Learn more about History Day at mnhs.org/historyday. 

Congratulations to all of the students who participated!