Local History Fair winners will compete at State

Historic City News congratulates twenty St Johns County students from nine participating schools that were selected from a recent local competition to travel and compete in the Florida State History Fair, scheduled for May 4-6.

The local participants who will travel to Tallahassee with History Fair Director Travis Brown, are Zuri Goodman, LMS; Sammy Schoenherr, LPA; Hadley Browder, FCMS; Amanda Rorabaugh, BTHS; Camille Aguilar and Sanya Bansal, SPMS; Kaylie Headings and Zachary Graves, FCMS; Elizabeth Fox and Harrison Snowden, LMS; Gayatri Ramesh, FCMS; Alaina Constantine, Caleb Daly, Isabelle Cutaia, Julia Frakaloss and Kaitlyn Kamerzel, CHS; Jack Veatch and Karim Brown, SMS; Caroline Balcita, LPA; and Paxton Threatt, FCMS.

“The St Johns County School District History Fair is run in conjunction with the National History Fair; sponsored by National History Day,” St Johns County School Superintendent Joseph Joyner told Historic City News. “The project-based learning that is emphasized by the History Fair provides an excellent opportunity for our students to showcase their college and career readiness skills; including research, writing, speaking and creative thinking, while embracing history.”

Elizabeth Fox and Snowden Harrison of Landrum Middle School won top honors in the second annual St. Johns County School District’s History Fair. Their project, entitled Axe Handle Saturday, was awarded the Overall Most Outstanding Project and they will each receive a check for $75 from the St. Augustineorical Society. Seventy six history projects presented by 143 participants Histcompeted in the local History Fair. The overall winner will be recognized at the School Board Meeting on Tuesday, April 8.

The History Fair received outstanding support from the St. Johns County Historical Community. The judges for the fair represented organizations including the St. Augustine Historical Society, St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, Florida Historical Society, University of Florida, St. Augustine Maritime Heritage Foundation, Ft. Mose Historic State Park, William Bartram Scenic and Historic Highway, Castillo de San Marcos, Colonial Dames of St. Augustine, Old Florida Museum, and The Colonial Quarter.

Participating schools included Liberty Pines Academy (LPA), Fruit Cove Middle School (FCMS), Landrum Middle School (LMS), Pacetti Bay Middle School (PBMS), Sebastian Middle School (SMS), Switzerland Point Middle School (SPMS), Bartram Trail High School (BTHS), Creekside High School (CHS) and Nease High School (NHS).

The category winners are listed below.

RESEARCH PAPER
Junior Division
1st Place- Caroline Balcita, LPA
2nd Place- Alice Gau, FCMS
3rd Place- Kendall Southworth, LPA

Senior Individual Division
1st Place-Ryan Berry, NHS
2nd Place- Sabrina Borrego, NHS
3rd Place- Michael Mathis, CHS

Senior Group Division
1st Place-Kathryn McGlynn and Jasmine Kernick, CHS
2nd Place- Alexa Candeletti and Sarah Fiori, NHS

PERFORMANCE
Junior Individual Division
1st Place-Zuri Goodman, LMS

Junior Group Division
1st Place-Nandini Tandon, Taylor Iler, and Lauren Banta, LPA

WEBSITE: INDIVIDUAL
Junior Division
1st Place-Sammy Schoenherr, LPA
2nd Place-Gayatri Ramesh, FCMS
3rd Place- Aidan Mather, SPMS

Senior Division
1st Place-Amanda Rorabaugh, BTHS
2nd Place-Erika Willis, CHS

WEBSITE: GROUP
Junior Division
1st Place-Camille Aguilar and Sanya Bansal, SPMS
2nd Place-Paige Hunt and Abigail Cebulko
3rd Place-Lauren Donalson and Anna Grace Shell

Senior Division
1st Place-Caleb Sapp, Logan Small and Ryan Stellhorn, BTHS
2nd Place-Alec Mott, Joshua Johnson and Blake Ashe, CHS
3rd Place-Marissa Wright, Stephaney Wilson, Jamie Montgomery, and Shilo Burres, NHS

DOCUMENTARY
Junior Group Division
1st Place-Kaylie Headings and Zachary Graves, FCMS
2nd Place-Noah Law and Noah Budkowski, SMS

Junior Individual Division
1st Place-Jake Smith, LPA
2nd Place-David Watt, LPA
3rd Place-Allie Guggs, SMS

EXHIBIT: INDIVIDUAL
Junior Division
1st Place-Hadley Browder, FCMS
2nd Place- Paxton Threatt, FCMS
3rd Place- Abbey Ellis, FCMS

EXHIBIT: GROUP
Junior Division
1st Place- Elizabeth Fox and Harrison Snowden, LMS
2nd Place- Jack Veatch and Karim Brown, SMS
3rd Place-Shelby Wright, Abigail Pelger, Sophie Aronovici, and Megan Oliveria, FCMS

Senior Division
1st Place-Alaina Constantine, Caleb Daly, Isabelle Cutaia, Julia Frakaloss, Kaitlyn Kamerzel, CHS
2nd Place- Evan Harms and James Lee, CHS
3rd Place-Valerie Gonzalez and Rachel White, CHS

In addition to the winners above, several special awards were presented and are listed below.

Scientific Awareness-provided by Smoothie King; Mya Horn-SMS
Local History-provided by The Report Card; Nina Alpert, PBMS
Ancient History-provided by Ripley’s Believe it Or Not; Emilie Shaver and Jamie Jensen, NHS
St. Augustine History-provided by The Colonial Quarter; Kaylie Headings and Zachary Graves, FCMS
Sports Awareness-provided by The World Golf Hall of Fame; Sidney Wissinger, FCMS
Exhibit Engineering-provided by RPM Automotive; Anamika Goswami and Joshua Veracruz, SPMS
Visual Achievement-provided by Brockington and Associates
Hannah Savoldy and Delaney Willingham, FCMS; Collaborative Effort-provided by Fort Menendez at the Old Florida Museum
Jacob Justice, Samantha Albrecht, Sophia Moulas, Daniel Page and Caleb Ferrell, SMS
Research of Historic Figures-provided by JAX Vision Care; Taylor Thomson, LPA
Most Visually Appealing-provided by JAX Vision Care;Michael Manherz, LPA
Exhibit Creation-provided by Chipotle Mexican Grill; Abbey Ellis, FCMS
Historical Significance-provided by St. Augustine Maritime Heritage Foundation; Mya Reed, SMS