Heart of Texas Regional History Fair Announces Winners of 2023 Competition, Special Awards
Students from nine Central Texas schools advance to Texas History Day competition April 15 in Austin
Media Contact: Alexis Whiteford , Heart of Texas Regional History Fair, 254-710-3783
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WACO, Texas (Feb. 20, 2023) – Students from nine Central Texas schools were awarded medals from the Waco Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation for their winning projects in the 2023 Heart of Texas Regional History Fair (HOTRHF), held Feb. 16 on the campus of Baylor University.
Students who placed first or second in the HOTRHF senior and junior divisions advance to the Texas History Day competition April 15 at the University of Texas at Austin and the Bullock Texas State History Museum. Winners in Austin then compete in National History Day June 11-15 at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Students competed in several categories, including individual paper and individual and group exhibits, performances, documentaries and websites. All projects entered in the Heart of Texas Regional History Fair explore aspects of the 2023 National History Day theme – “Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas.”
In addition to the category winners, HOTRHF participants and teachers also were honored with special awards. All awardees are listed below.
For more information, contact Alexis Whiteford, coordinator of the Heart of Texas Regional History Fair, at 254-710-3783 or hotfair@baylor.edu.
2023 Heart of Texas Regional History Fair Award Winners
Senior Division
Senior Paper
1st Place
Estonia: A Rebuilt Nation Crossing Frontier
Drew Shafer - Shafer Homeschool
2nd Place
Frontiers in History: African American’s Struggle for Equality
Emily Hernandez - Chaparral High School
3rd Place
Alexander Graham Bell- Visionary or Villain?
Abigail Olmstead - Olmstead Homeschool
Senior Group Exhibit
1st Place
Sarah J Hale
Natalie Erler, Kate Roberson - Lorena High School
Senior Group Performance
1st place
Turning Tides: Future of Naval Warfare
Will Aaron, Jacob Bell, Elian Martinez, Gerado Reyes Gonzalez, Gavin Tucker - McGregor High School
Junior Division
Junior Paper
1st Place
Dorothea Lynde Dix: Reformer and Activist
Zuly Barco - Atlas Academy
2nd Place
Susanna Dickinson
Anna Exaire - Lake Belton Middle School
3rd Place
Frontiers in Heat Based Kitchen Appliances
Creighton Carroll - South Belton Middle School
Junior Individual Documentary
1st Place
Higgs Boson
Barrett Brown - South Belton Middle School
2nd Place
Jack Kilby: The Invention of the Calculator and the Integrated Circuit
Lucas Trindade - Lake Belton Middle School
Junior Group Documentary
1st Place
Exploring the Final Frontier: A Race to Space
Levi Crotty, Colton Jeffreys, Joshua Lighthall, Michael Lockett, Quinn Partke - North Belton Middle School
2nd Place
Twilight Sleep
Aryanna Cruz, Kayden Hanlon - South Belton Middle School
3rd Place
Perseverance, Bravery, and Breaking the Frontier
Alexandra Bui, Elysse, Bui, Isabelle Howson, Emry Olivarez - North Belton Middle School
Junior Individual Exhibit
1st Place
From Frontier to the White House: The Story of Abraham Lincoln
Megan Gallant - North Belton Middle School
2nd Place
Katherine Johnson
Makiyah Washington - Atlas Academy
3rd Place
Remember the Tejanos at the Alamo
Luke Blevin - Eagle Christian Academy
Honorable Mention
USA vs. Japan
Zane Beggs - Eagle Christian Academy
Honorable Mention
Chili Queens
Jhetzza Carbajal - Atlas Academy
Honorable Mention
Lake Belton Flood
Rowan Sebek - Lake Belton Middle School
Junior Group Exhibit
1st Place
Me for Ma: A Frontier for Women in Politics
McKenna Brindley, Kinleigh Fulton, Alexa Harbour, Swikriti Lamichhane, Brynlee Newberry - North Belton Middle School
2nd Place
Southern Integration
Jack Fugitt, Chance McPherson, Memphis Moore, Emma Ward - Moody Middle School
3rd Place
The Battle of San Jacinto
Mehul Bansal, Phillip Eggleston, Benjamin Rydberg - Lake Belton Middle School
Junior Individual Performance
1st Place
Radical Radium: A Frontier for Science
Madison Estes - North Belton Middle School
Junior Group Performance
1st Place
Is There a Doctor in the House: The Tale of Dr. Sara Josephine Baker and Typhoid Mary
Emma Clark-Martinez, Finley Ritter, Katarina Telep - Atlas Academy
2nd Place
The Great Depression: An Economic Destruction
Zion Borden, Adalyn Goodman, Andre McClyde, Triton Vaden - Moody Middle School
Junior Individual Website
1st Place
The Frontier of Computers
Jakob Zeigelt - Moody Middle School
2nd Place
Selena Quintanilla
Bianca Avila - South Belton Middle School
3rd Place
Immigration Laws
Karolyna Martinez - South Belton Middle School
Junior Group Website
1st Place
Frontiers: The Then and Now of Activism
Abigail Polk, EvaLee Smith - Atlas Academy
2nd Place
Discovery of Penicillin: How it Change the Course of Medical History
Isabella Ake, Madison Aycock, Annabelle Morehouse - South Belton Middle School
3rd Place
Penicillin
Sa'Cori Atkins, Sophia Cabrera Alvarez, D'Janina Solao-Cubero - South Belton Middle School
Special Awards
Baylor Film and Digital Media
Perseverance, Bravery, and Breaking the Frontier
Alexandra Bui, Elysse, Bui, Isabelle Howson, Emry Olivarez - North Belton Middle School
Baylor Law School
Southern Integration
Jack Fugitt, Chance McPherson, Memphis Moore, Emma Ward - Moody Middle School
Baylor Law School
The Evolution of Gas as a Weapon
Tyler Larsson, Jarrett Springfield - Moody Middle School
Baylor Law School
Me for Ma: A Frontier for Women in Politics
McKenna Brindley, Kinleigh Fulton, Alexa Harbour, Swikriti Lamichhane, Brynlee Newberry - North Belton Middle School
Baylor Law School
Allyson Felix
Wynne Houghton - Moody Middle School
Baylor University Institute for Oral History
Southern Integration
Jack Fugitt, Chance McPherson, Memphis Moore, Emma Ward - Moody Middle School
Bell County Museum
Higgs Boson
Barrett Brown - South Belton Middle School
Bell County Museum
Perseverance, Bravery, and Breaking the Frontier
Alexandra Bui, Elysse, Bui, Isabelle Howson, Emry Olivarez - North Belton Middle School
Bell County Museum
Exploring the Final Frontier: A Race to Space
Levi Crotty, Colton Jeffreys, Joshua Lighthall, Michael Lockett, Quinn Partke - North Belton Middle School
Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Sterling C. Robertson Chapter
Remember the Tejanos at the Alamo
Luke Blevin - Eagle Christian Academy
Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Sterling C. Robertson Chapter
Susanna Dickinson
Anna Exaire - Lake Belton Middle School
Dr Pepper Museum
Chili Queens
Jhetzza Carbajal - Atlas Academy
Festival on the Brazos
Chili Queens
Jhetzza Carbajal - Atlas Academy
Historic Waco Foundation
Me for Ma: A Frontier for Women in Politics
McKenna Brindley, Kinleigh Fulton, Alexa Harbour, Swikriti Lamichhane, Brynlee Newberry - North Belton Middle School
Historic Waco Foundation
Chili Queens
Jhetzza Carbajal - Atlas Academy
Historic Waco Foundation
The First Automobiles in Texas
Alexis Speegle, Bridget Tosse - Lake Belton Middle School
McLennan County Historical Commission
Chili Queens
Jhetzza Carbajal - Atlas Academy
Museum Association of Waco
Morse Code
Abigail Bland - Eagle Christian Academy
Museum Association of Waco
Technological Frontier Opened by Benjamin Franklin
Kenzie McPherson - Moody Middle School
National Society of the Colonial Dames - Waco Town Committee
Revolutionary War
Madelyn Rodriguez, Anabel Wilmot - South Belton Middle School
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Elizabeth Gordon Bradley Chapter
Revolutionary War
Madelyn Rodriguez, Anabel Wilmot - South Belton Middle School
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Henry Downs Chapter
Revolutionary War
Madelyn Rodriguez, Anabel Wilmot - South Belton Middle School
The Links Inc., Waco
Frontiers in History: African Americans’ Struggle for Equality
Emily Hernandez - Chaparral High School
Me for Ma: A Frontier for Women in Politics
McKenna Brindley, Kinleigh Fulton, Alexa Harbour, Swikriti Lamichhane, Brynlee Newberry - North Belton Middle School
Chili Queens
Jhetzza Carbajal - Atlas Academy
Sarah J. Hale
Natalie Erler, Kate Roberson - Lorena High School
The Texas Collection
Chili Queens
Jhetzza Carbajal - Atlas Academy
W. R. Poage Legislative Library
Dorothea Lynde Dix: Reformer and Activist
Zuly Barco - Atlas Academy
W. R. Poage Legislative Library
Frontiers in History: African Americans’ Struggle for Equality
Emily Hernandez - Chaparral High School
Special Heart of Texas Regional History Fair Awards
Ada Margaret Smith Award Jacob Bell - McGregor High School
Calvin B. Smith Award (Teacher) Lauren Addison - Moody Middle School
James M. SoRelle Department of History Sweepstakes Award (Teacher) Elizabeth Howson - North Belton Middle School
ABOUT THE HEART OF TEXAS REGIONAL HISTORY FAIR
The Heart of Texas Regional History Fair (HOTRHF) is a regional affiliate for the Texas History Day and National History Day annual competition and operates under the guidelines of the National History Day. HOTRHF covers a 14-county region in Central Texas. Founded in 1986 under the sponsorship of the Strecker Museum at Baylor University, the HOTRHF is currently sponsored by The Texas Collection at Baylor and is held each February at the Bill Daniel Student Center on the Baylor campus. Participation in the Heart of Texas Regional History Fair develops academic, artistic and social skills that provide lasting benefit to students in all areas of study. For more information or to get involved in HOTRHF, visit www.baylor.edu/historyfair.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.