N.C. Students Stand Out at National History Day

Greenville student Jordyn Williams won a full university scholarship for her documentary.

North Carolina students took top honors at this year’s National History Day Competition at the University of Maryland, College Park, held June 12–16. Three thousand student competitors came from all 50 states, several territories and four foreign countries.

Strong finishers included Caroline Murphy and Sydney Dye of Chapel Hill High School, who won first place in the senior group documentary category with their project on the Farm Security Administration’s photography project during the Great Depression.

Jordyn Williams of J.H. Rose High School in Greenville won the David Van Tassel Founder Award for her senior division documentary about African-American chemist Percy Julian. The award carries a full academic scholarship to Case Western University in Cleveland. Her project was sixth in the nation.

Skylar Holland of Wayne School of Engineering in Goldsboro received a medal for her individual performance on World War II American spy Virginia Hall. It was the outstanding state project in the junior division. And Dannis Cezarez and Melanie Irazzy of Surry County Early College in Dobson were chosen to display their exhibit titled “Rocket Man Robert Goddard: Father of Modern Rocketry” at the Smithsonian Museum of American History on June 15. Each state and territory chose one project to display that day.

These winning students had previously competed against more than 450 students at the North Carolina History Day competition, held April 30.

For more information about the two contests, visit ncdcr.gov/education/history-day/about.