April 25, 2022

Dripping Springs Middle School student Grant Gillum won the Texas History Day Junior Division competition for the second consecutive year on Saturday, April 23 for his website, “The 1959 Soviet-American Exhibitions: Cultural Diplomacy Sparks a Debate in the Kitchen".

In February, Gillum won the regional competition to qualify for the state event. He was a third-place finisher at the national competition in 2021. Gillum will compete virtually in the national event from June 12-16. This is the third-straight year a DSISD student has advanced to nationals.  

Sycamore Springs Middle School student Blaine Lovett was a state finalist for his individual performance, “Chernobyl: Through the Eyes of an Old Man”, to place among the top 10 projects in the state.

SSMS students Landon Treague and Diego Barreto were awarded two special prizes for their documentary, “Pearl Harbor”. They were honored with the Maritime Projects prize by the National Maritime Historical Society, awarded to the top two maritime entries. They also received the Naval Order of the United States recognition from the Texas Commandery of the Naval Order of the United States, awarded to entries that have researched and prepared projects relating to naval and maritime subjects.

SSMS students Amir Banky and Cooper Gray were also state qualifiers with their exhibit, “Why Normandy? The Allies Debate Where to Land”.

The National History Day^® contest encourages students to conduct historical research on a topic of their choice. Each year, a theme is chosen for broad application to world, national, or state history and its relevance to ancient history or to the more recent past. The 2021-2022 theme is “Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences”.