OKLAHOMA CITY — Dozens of Oklahoma students won first, second or third place in the Oklahoma National History Day (OkNHD) competition at the Oklahoma History Center. Students in 6th through 8th grades competed on Wednesday, May 7. Students in 9th through 12th grades competed on Thursday, May 8. Students qualified for the state competition after winning at one of seven regional competitions across Oklahoma. Some of the winners move on to the national competition in June. The theme for 2025 was “Rights & Responsibilities in History.”
National History Day is a highly regarded academic program that is student-driven and allows students to learn about civic engagement while analyzing primary sources. The cross-curricular program meets Oklahoma standards for social studies and other subjects.
OkNHD is project-based learning that focuses on historical topics related to a theme. Students conduct extensive primary and secondary research through libraries, archives, museums and historic sites. After analyzing and interpreting their sources, students draw conclusions about their topic’s significance in history before presenting their work in original papers, exhibits, performances, websites and documentaries. Student projects are entered into competitions in the spring at regional, state and national contests, where professional historians, educators and community leaders evaluate them.
Junior Division Winners
Junior Group Documentary
Third Place
The White Rose
Sylvia Vaca
Sinclair Reece
Centennial Middle School, Broken Arrow
Teacher: Ruth Biggs
Second Place
The Indian Salt March: Gandhi’s March for Freedom
Isaac Ringsmuth
Charles Hardy
Ian Bidelspach
Stillwater Junior High School, Stillwater
Teacher: Jonas Burns
First Place
The Life of Lola Baldwin
Molly Newsom
Elinor Crane
Shawnee Middle School, Shawnee
Teacher: Cherity Pennington
Junior Group Exhibit
Third Place
Self-Determined
Jacob Hitt
Eli Singleton
Sadler Arts Academy, Muskogee
Teacher: Amanda Cumbey
Second Place
Title IX: Women in Sports
Suzy Howle
Grace Eliserio
Grove Public School, Shawnee
Teacher: Jenny Carter
First Place
Saint Kate: Fighting for the Rights of Oklahoma’s Children
Emberly Thompson
Mackenzie Day
Canton Elementary School, Canton
Teacher: Penny Heath
Junior Group Performance
Third Place
The Edelweiss Pirates: We Did What We Could to Resist
Layken Bearman
Elizabeth Edwards
Hazel Davis
Canton Elementary School, Canton
Teachers: Alicia Sanderson, Tiffany Estrada
Second Place
37 Words for the Win
Kynzlee Hulse
Marley Lorenz
Canton Elementary School, Canton
Teacher: Penny Heath
First Place
The Great Dust Storm: How Drought and Devastation Influenced Responsible Farming
Lexi Kruse
Daydree Horne
Olivia Ross
Levi Brixey
Morrison Junior High, Morrison
Teacher: Patty Sanders
Junior Group Website
Third Place
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions: The Papers that Shaped America
Owen Wright
Luke Walden
Centennial Middle School, Tulsa
Teacher: Jennifer Anthony
Second Place
The Alien and Sedition Acts
Avery Hartman
Selena Luong
Centennial Middle School, Tulsa
Teacher: Jennifer Anthony
First Place
When Basketball Was More Than a Game: Integrating the NBA
Kaghan Stephens
Tristen Mosqueda
Canton Elementary School, Canton
Teacher: Penny Heath
Junior Individual Documentary
Third Place
The Watergate Scandal
Hannah Hennessey
All Saints Catholic School, Norman
Teacher: Pam Brown
Second Place
Lee Miller - The World Through A Lens
Carrington Coulter
All Saints Catholic School, Norman
Teacher: Pam Brown
First Place
The Little Woman Who Started the War
Molly Blahnik
Norman, OK, All Saints Catholic School, Norman
Teacher: Pam Brown
Junior Individual Exhibit
Third Place
Braille, A Revolutionary Touch to History
Sara Roberts
Stillwater Junior High School, Stillwater
Teacher: Melissa Sutton
Second Place
Tulsa Race Massacre
Adriana Parker
Childers Middle School, Broken Arrow
Teacher: Wythe Dodson
First Place
The Right to Sit: Clara Luper and the Oklahoma City Sit-in Movement
Hayden Estrada
Canton Elementary School, Canton
Teachers: Tiffany Estrada, Penny Heath
Junior Individual Performance
Third Place
The world has the right to know and it is my responsibility to tell: The Witold Pilecki Story
Harrison Carroll
Summit Christian School, Oklahoma City
Teacher: Ellen Carroll
Second Place
Hisashi Ouchi: The Cost of a Life
Liam Ross
Canton Elementary School, Canton
Teachers: Penny Heath, Tiffany Estrada
First Place
Warning Parental Advisory: Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Fight for the First Amendment Right V.S. the Censorship of the PMRC
Clare Isaacs
All Saints Catholic School, Norman
Teacher: Pam Brown
Junior Individual Website
Third Place
Red Power Rising: Indigenous Voices and the Fight Against Governmental Oppression during the Vietnam War
Nyah Adair
Alice Robertson Junior High School, Muskogee
Teacher: Oscar Flores
Second Place
Child Labor Laws and Their Impact in U.S. History: A Fight For Children’s Rights
Nur Altinalan
Centennial Middle School, Tulsa
Teacher: Ruth Biggs
First Place
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Medical Ethics, Rights, and Responsibilities
Isaac Muckala
All Saints Catholic School, Norman
Teacher: Pam Brown
Junior Paper
Third Place
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: The Woman Who Changed the Laws
Cecile McKee
St. Eugene Catholic School, Oklahoma City
Teacher: Nathan Blagg
Second Place
The Boston Massacre: The Colonial Responsibility to Fight Against the Infringement of Rights
Abigail Norwood
Stillwater Junior High School, Stillwater
Teacher: Jonas Burns
First Place
The Palestinian Catastrophe of 1948: How the Palestinians Lost Their Lives, Land, and Rights
Leena Atiyeh
Stillwater Junior High School, Stillwater
Teacher: Jonas Burns
Senior Division Winners
Senior Group Documentary
Third Place
Beyond the Blast: Insight to Engineers’ Rights and Responsibilities after the Challenger Disaster
Kody Veal
Alexander Peetoom
Stillwater High School, Stillwater
Teacher: Jonas Burns
Second Place
Three Years: A Case of Injustice in Education
Eronne-Loretta Ribas
Trysten Meryhew
Dylan Dodson
Dove Science Academy, Tulsa
Teacher: Stephen Frazier
First Place
Chilocco Indian Industrial School: A Rationale of Rights and Responsibilities
Taleah Williams
Annie Kelly
Piper Roberts
Sydney Morgan
Morrison High School, Morrison
Teacher: Patty Sanders
Senior Group Exhibit
Third Place
Rosa Parks
Alivia Arnold
Brooklynn Vaughn
Alice Robertson Junior High School, Muskogee
Teacher: Oscar Flores
Second Place
Catherine McAuley: Path of Mercy
Addisyn Smith
Allisyn Smith
Camden Lee
Canton High School, Canton
Teacher: Penny Heath
First Place
Peace Corps: The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love
Hannah Hoffman
Sisaly Hepner
Canton High School, Canton
Teacher: Penny Heath
Senior Group Performance
Third Place
The Trenton War: Against All Odds
Jayci Clark
Jordyn Meek
Alice Robertson Junior High School, Muskogee
Teacher: Oscar Flores
Second Place
The Rights We Receive From The First Amendment and the Responsibilities We Receive From These Rights
Madeline Nutter
Deeonia Mann
Elizabeth Kerfoot
Woodward High School, Woodward
Teacher: Jessie Pingry
First Place
Chernobyl: Lost Rights From Failure of Responsibility
Logan Carroll
Carter Moses
Summit Christian School, Arcadia
Teacher: Ellen Carroll
Senior Group Website
Third Place
Sowing Seeds of Change: The Women’s Land Army of America’s Influence on Rights and Responsibilities
Rebecca Taylor
Ava Williams
Aubrey Grim
Morrison High School, Morrison
Teacher: Patty Sanders
Second Place
Whispers of Motherhood: The Untold Stories of Maternity Homes
Ariana Brixey
Kynzi Kelty
Morrison High School, Morrison
Teacher: Patty Sanders
First Place
The Veiled Paper Trail: The Pentagon Papers’ Impact on the Vietnam War
Preston Foster
David Evans
Canton High School, Canton
Teacher: Penny Heath
Senior Individual Documentary
Third Place
The Angels of Auschwitz
Emily Woodring
Morrison High School, Morrison
Teacher: Patty Sanders
Third Place
Chains of Responsibility: Hunger Strikes and the Suffragette Movement
Sherry Wang
Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, Oklahoma City
Teacher: Michelle McCargish
First Place
Balancing the Scales: Rights, Responsibilities, and George P. Henderson’s Vision
Neha Kale
Classen High School of Advanced Studies, Oklahoma City
Teacher: Rushali Kale
Senior Individual Exhibit
Third Place
Stolen Innocence
Abigail Poulson
Vici Public Schools, Vici
Teacher: Katie Welty
Second Place
Ten Days in a Madhouse: The Illustrious Career of Nellie Bly
Emma Haken
Morrison High School, Morrison
Teacher: Patty Sanders
First Place
In Defiance of Hitler: Irish Women in the Resistance
Harper Jones
Canton High School, Canton
Teacher: Penny Heath
Senior Individual Performance
Third Place
The Rights and Responsibilities of Wyatt Earp
Reid Redding
Summit Christian School, Oklahoma City
Teacher: Ellen Carroll
Second Place
Elton John’s Rights & Responsibilities To Spread Awareness
Mason Moraine
Summit Christian School, Oklahoma City
Teacher: Ellen Carroll
First Place
Freedom to Trade? The Commerce Clause in Action
Caleb Berschauer
Astec Charter High School, Oklahoma City
Teacher: Christy Hanna
Senior Individual Website
First Place
The Fight for Equal Rights and the Responsibilities that Come With It
Blake Laster
Sweetwater Public School, Erick
Teacher: Jan Reed
Senior Paper
Third Place
“A ‘King Tut’ Tomb”: The Looting of Spiro Mounds
Emmy Xiang
Stillwater High School, Stillwater
Teacher: Jonas Burns
Second Place
The Public’s Ultimate Responsibility in Keeping NASA a Functional Agency
Miles Tousley
Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, Oklahoma City
Teacher: Michelle McCargish
First Place
The Battle for Recognition in Scientific History: Alice Ball’s Forgotten Legacy
Melody Chen
Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, Oklahoma City
Teacher: Michelle McCargish
Special Prizes
Best Exhibit Design Award
Junior Division Group Exhibit, Saint Kate: Fighting for the Rights of Oklahoma’s Children
Senior Division Individual Exhibit, Exiled in the Land They Called Home: Japanese Internment During WWII
Best Use of Family History Prize
Junior Division Group Exhibit, Known by Our Tracks
Senior Division Group Documentary, The Voices Will Not Be Televised
The George Washington Leadership Prize
Junior Division Individual Website, Desmond Doss the Rights of a Conscientious Objector
Senior Division Group Performance, The Rights We Receive From the First Amendment and the Responsibilities We Receive From These Rights
The Grand River Dam Authority Best Environmental Project Award
Junior Division Group Exhibit, Picher is NOT OK! Small Town Rights against Environmental Responsibility
Senior Division Group Website, Rights to Land, The Responsibility to Project: The EPA’s Mission to Preserve American Communities
Historic Preservation Award
Junior Division Group Website, Japanese Internment Camp: Fort Sill, Oklahoma
Senior Division Paper, “A ‘King Tut’ Tomb”: The Looting of Spiro Mounds
Indian Boarding School Project Prize
Senior Division Group Documentary, Chilocco Indian Industrial School: A Rationale of Rights and Responsibilities
John Mark Rhea History Day Prize
Senior Division Paper, The Battle for Recognition in Scientific History: Alice Ball’s Forgotten Legacy
League of Women Voters of Oklahoma Award
Junior Division Paper, Empower Women, Empower Oklahoma
OERB Energy Project Award
Junior Division Group Website, 1920s Oil Boom
Senior Division Individual Exhibit, Creating Equality: The Greenwood District
OKCHE Lyndal Cadell Excellence Award
Junior Division Individual Website, Child Labor Laws & Impact in US History
Senior Division Individual Documentary, Balancing the Scales: Rights, Responsibilities, and George P. Henderson’s Vision
Todd Family Oral History Award
Senior Division Group Website, The Veiled Paper Trail: The Pentagon Papers’ Impact on the Vietnam War
Teacher of the Year
Junior Division Jessie Paxton, St. Philip Neri Catholic School, Midwest City
Senior Division, Katie Welty, Vici Public School, Vici
Sweepstakes Winner
Senior Division, Morrison Public Schools
Junior Division, Canton Public Schools and All Saints Catholic School
The 2025 Oklahoma National History Day competition was supported in part by a grant from the Bezos Family Foundation. The grant helped cover professional development workshops for teachers and strengthen NHD programs.
The Oklahoma History Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, National Archives and is an accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications, the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit okhistory.org.