At the state finals of the National History Day (NHD) competition on May 8, 2021, South San Francisco High School (SSFHS) junior Brenda Gonzalez emerged as a second-place finisher for her individual website “The Chicano Art Movement”.
The project also garnered her a Herbert Nikirk Visual Art in History Special Award.
Gonzalez was part of a contingent of 18 SSFHS student who advanced to the state finals in Sacramento from the regional level in San Mateo County.
At the regional competition in March, SSFHS students actually swept the group website category to advance to the state finals.
The winners were:
- Seniors Bibiane Huang, Nickolas Huynh, and Kevin Yang, who created the “Live Aid for Ethiopia: Music’s Universal Role in Communication” website;
- Juniors Yuliana Caravantes-Molina and Kayley Camilleri, who built “A Glorified Failure: The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848” website;
- Juniors Paola Mota and Andrew Ta, who designed the “Smokey Bear: The Forest Fire Fighting Trailblazer” website; and
- Juniors Dorothy Burton, Kara Lau, and Brianna Tong, who scored with their “Anthem of the Slaves” project.
In the group documentary category, juniors Aarish Ali and Isaac Lara, who produced “Under the Influence: 24-Hour News”, also advanced to the state finals alongside Rachell Le, Melissa Hernandez, and Vincent Huang, who produced “The War on Drugs: An Ulterior Motive Leading to Lasting Consequences”.
In the individual documentary category, juniors Michelle Hara and Finley Liquete advanced, producing “Hawaiian Language: How Radio Shows and Schools Saved a Culture” and “The Hardest Pill to Swallow: An Inconvenient Truth” respectively.
Rounding out the SSFHS contingent at the state finals was Gonzalez whose “The Chicano Art Movement” project won the individual website category in San Mateo County.
Participants in the NHD competition were evaluated by three to four judges in each category with the help of a rubric that assesses research, historical accuracy, argument, and project execution.
At the state finals, the top two finishers in each category win a place at the NHD national contest in June.
The NHD competition has traditionally been open to all SSFHS sophomores and juniors enrolled in Modern World or U.S. History. This year, only students from the school’s advanced placement (AP) history class competed.
“Students have participated [in NHD] off and on for more than 20 years in our district,” said history teacher Rhonda Clements. “SSFHS offers NHD program to more students than other schools in our county.”
More than half a million students take part in the NHD competition, which encourages participants to conduct historical research on a topic of their choice.