Every year, about half a million students in grades four through 12 take part in National History Day 
events across the U.S. These young historians produce original websites, papers, documentaries, performances and exhibits, which are showcased at the local, county, state and national levels. The theme this year is “Taking a Stand in History.” The Orange County National History Day competition took place on March 11 at the Orange County Department of Education offices.
IUSD had a tremendous showing with 170 students submitting 108 projects. Topics ranged from “Taking a Stand Against McCarthy: The Power of Modern Day Journalism,” to “A Voyage to Freedom: The Korean Independence,” to “William Wilberforce: Stand Against The Slave Trade.”
Students moving on to the State National History Day Competition in May are listed below. All five IUSD high schools and four middle schools are sending projects to the state level. Congratulations to all students who participated!
Group Documentary
Sierra Vista Middle School
Terrence Vincent Powderly: Warrior for Labor Rights
Ethan Chen, Rachel Gima and Daniel Yang
Jeffrey Trail Middle School
Equality and Justice: The 1963 March on Washington
Mishtee Shaw and Kowoon Jeong
Jeffrey Trail Middle School
The Danish Resistance: The Savage Canary’s Emblem of Fire
Padma Iyengar, Grace Wen and Ryan Jung
University High School
Fred Korematsu: A Despicable Case Against an Innocent Race
Christian Duhay and Evan Juan
Northwood High School
The Berkeley Free Speech Movement: A Protest for All Protests
Kiana Wang and Rebecca Yu
Individual Documentary
Sierra Vista Middle School
Jeffrey Wigand – Taking a Stand Against Big Tobacco
Jasmine Sinchai
Sierra Vista Middle School
Lewis Hine: How One Man’s Camera Eliminated Child Labor
Sonia Chacon
Irvine High School
All Action and Results, and Not Just Talk, Talk, Talk: John Lewis, a Lifetime of Taking a Stand for Civil Rights
Christine Park
Group Exhibit
Sierra Vista Middle School
Marian Anderson: The Voice That Took a Stand
Emilia Bretana, Amanda Carlson, Gayatri Kalyan, Quinlan Solomita and Ainsley Zapata
Sierra Vista Middle School
The Gulf War 1990-1991 – Operation Desert Storm
Shreya Shah and Rhea Mehta
University High School
Dorothea Lange: Pictures Worth More Than a Thousand Words
Alina Guo, Lan Jiang
Individual Exhibit
University High School
Joseph Lister: The Father of Antisepsis
Maggie Zhang
Irvine High School
Saddam Hussein Taking a Stand in Iran-Iraq War
Farnoush Nasouri
Historical Paper
Sierra Vista Middle School
Fred Korematsu: Fighting for a Battle Never Fought
Kevin Miura
Sierra Vista Middle School
Andrei Sakharov: Father of the Soviet Human Rights Movement
Jenny Won
Northwood High School
Peter the great: Recreating Russia
Angelina Chen
University High School
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz: Politics, Poetics, and a Stand for Women Scholars
Peter Thomas
Northwood High School
William Wilberforce: Stand Against Slave Trade
Stuti Agrawal
Individual Performance
Jeffrey Trail Middle School
Gandhi: A Man Who Inspired Others To Take A Stand With Him To Free India From The British By Only Nonviolence
Lavanya Gupta
Sierra Vista Middle School
Rosie the Riverter: Fighting World War II from the Homefront
Jasmine Chhabria
Woodbridge High School
How British Female Spies Stood Up Against The Nazis And Gender Opposition During World War II
Naomi Hampton
Individual Website
South Lake Middle School
Mihajlo Pupin: Taking a Stand for Serbia
Mia Stojanovic
Northwood High School|
The Womanhouse Project
Angela Chung
Portola High School
Muckrakers of the Progressive Era Taking a Stand Against Injustice in Society
Julia Kim
Group Website
Sierra Vista Middle School
The little Rock Nine: Pioneers of Equality in Education
Annabel Yang and Andrea Huang
Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
Creation/Evolution Debate
Samuel German and James Koga
Sierra Vista Middle School
John Fitzgerald Kennedy: The Cuban Missile Crisis
Jake Compton, Rohin Palsule and Derek Yazan
University High School
Taking a Stand Against McCarthy: The Power of Modern Day Journalism
Sabrina Huang and Frankie (Hyeseung) Son
University High School
Ahn Chang-ho: Taking Initiative on Korean Liberation
Kyle Chen, Kevin Dang and Hahn Kang