Hannah Evans, a student at Hastings (Nebraska) Senior High School, earned a $6,000 scholarship to Hastings College for her individual documentary titled “Conflict, Compromise and the Christmas Truce of 1914.” She received the award February 28 when the College hosted a regional History Day competition for middle and high school students.
The theme for this year’s competition was “Conflict and Compromise in History.”
Other top high school students receiving scholarships include a first runner-up trio from Hastings Senior High with a website project titled “If We Must Die: Afro-America and the Summer of 1919.” Members of the group include Carter Wenburg, Chase Johnson and Christine Jonglertham. Each received a $5,000 scholarship.
Second runner-up Candice Rogers of Hastings Senior High, received a $4,000 scholarship with her individual historical paper titled “The Room Where it Happened: The Compromise of 1790.”
The top three recipients in each category are shown below and are eligible for the 2018 Nebraska National History Day State Contest April 7.
Top Award Recipients
Junior Division (grades 6-8)
Individual Documentary
First place: Erika Nielsen of Hastings Middle School with “The Conflict Over Vietnam”
Second place: Hayden Mays of Hastings Middle School with “Huffing and Puffing: The Conflict of Reintroduction of Wolves in Yellowstone”
Group Exhibit
First place: Jordan Head and Lucy Pfeil of Hastings Middle School with “The First Transcontinental Railroad”
Second place: Brittany Zeckser and Sydni Johnson of Hastings Middle School with “Salem Witch Trials…Witch or Not?”
Third place: Jenna Cecrle, Lilli Buller and Macie Wolever of Adams Central Middle School with “The Bloody Refusal to Compromise”
Individual Historical Paper
First place: Johnathan Schmidt of Hastings Middle School with “The War That Started The Chinese Revolution”
Individual Performance
First place: Breeanne Witte of Hastings Middle School with “The Story of Desmond T. Doss”
Senior Division (grades 9-12)
Individual Documentary
First place: Hannah Evans of Hastings Senior High with “Conflict, Compromise, and the Christmas Truce of 1914”
Second place: Tyler Schweer of Sandy Creek High School with “The Paris Peace Accords and the U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War”
Third place: JT Cafferty of Hastings Senior High with “Chris Benoit and His Effects on Modern Professional Wrestling”
Group Documentary
First place: Lucy Nielsen and Chyna Delker of Hastings Senior High with “Cumann na mBan: The Leader, the Writer, and the Warrior”
Second place: Jordan Kempf and Sterling Orcutt of Sandy Creek High School with “The History of the NAD”
Third place: Thomas Harling, Luke Kirkegaard, Jacob Shaw of Hastings Senior High with “Gone but Not Forgotten: The Conflict Over Burial Records at the Hastings Regional Center”
Individual Exhibit
First place: Maggie Nielsen of Hastings Senior High with “2nd Time’s a Charm: The Story of the United Nations”
Second place: Katelyn Cecrle of Hastings Senior High with The Establishment of the Manchu Dynasty”
Third place: Sarah Spilinek of Hastings Senior High with “Margaret Bourke-White: Conflict Through the Lens”
Group Exhibit
First place: Gilliyan Hueske, Kate Delaney and Haley Schram of Hastings Senior High with “Sisters Against Slavery: Angelina and Sarah Grimke”
Second place: Calie Schliep and Grace Messenger of Sandy Creek High School with “Harlem Hellfighters in WWI”
Third place: Tyler Weseman and Ramona Lara of Hastings Senior High with “To Compromise or Not to Compromise the Conflict Within the Women’s Suffrage”
Individual Historical Paper
First place: Candice Rogers of Hastings Senior High with “The Room Where it Happened: The Compromise of 1790”
Second place: Landon Power of Hastings Senior High with “Olaudah Equiano: The Voice of the Voiceless”
Third place: Maggie Rieckman of Sandy Creek High School with “Oh Henry! A Look into the Motives of the Most Notorious Tudor Monarch”
Individual Website
First place: Tagg Pershing of Hastings Senior High with “General John Pershing and his Fight for Equality”
Second place: Logan Johnson of Hastings Senior High with “Fit for Change”
Third place: Oliver Dunbar of Hastings Senior High with “Cheap Coal and Cheap Lives: The Ludlow Massacre”
Group Website
First place: Carter Wenburg, Chase Johnson and Christine Jonglertham of Hastings Senior High with “If We Must Die: Afro-America and the Red Summer of 1919”
Second place: Benjamin Brockmann, Emily Struss and McKenzie Lloyd of Hastings Senior High with “Got Milk?: The Life and Conflicts of Harvey Milk”
Third place: Grace Redinger and Lily Black of Hastings Senior High with “The Impact of Jane Addams vs. H.H. Holmes”
Group Performance
First place: Anderson Rogers and Kobi Ennen of Hastings Senior High with “Will and Ben, A Family Divided”
Hastings College is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. With more than 60 majors and 15 pre-professional programs, Hastings College has been named among “Great Schools, Great Prices” by U.S. News & World Report and a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu.
