(NEW ORLEANS, La.) — Honors U.S. History students participated in the National History Day competition this school year. In October, students commenced an epic journey through U.S. history for the National History Day competition, an international competition that opened with a regional contest at the National World War II Museum in March.

This year’s competition theme was Triumph and Tragedy in History.  Students chose a calamitous event to research (U.S. History for this particular class) and then set about to prove how it was both a triumph and a tragedy in U.S. History. They had an option to work individually or with a group to create one of five types of projects: documentary, exhibit, website, research paper, or live performance.

Six projects were entered in the regional competition.  Students presented and defended their work to a panel of judges.  All projects made it to the state level.  Two projects won at State and will move on to the national competition this June in Washington, D.C., including a documentary on the Mormon Battalion created by Evan Carse, Elias Simpson and Caleb Frost and a research paper on the Goliad Massacre written by Josh McClain.

In addition to his trip to D.C., Elias Simpson also won a trip to Normandy, France, this summer by entering as essay contest open to all NHD state contest winners.