Indiana Students Receive Special Awards, Honors at National History Day Contest

The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) proudly announces several Indiana students received special awards and honors at the National Contest for the National History Day® (NHD) program that was held from June 8-12 at University of Maryland, College Park.

Among the top winners:

• 2nd place in Senior Group Documentary went to Benjamin Lu, Divya Ariyur, Emma An, and Shawn Feng of Carmel High School for “Buried Rights and Broken Duties: Love Canal and the Call for Responsibility.”
• 2nd place in Senior Individual Website was awarded to Katelyn Chen of Carmel High School for “Gaokao 1977: Restoring Citizens’ Rights and the Chinese Government’s Responsibility to Higher Education.”
• 3rd place in Junior Group Performance went to Aesop Birkemeier, Alison Schrader, Kaleb Ice, and Sully Rockwell of Brown County Middle School for “Rights and Responsibilities in History: Remembering the Legacy of Ryan White.”

This year’s National Contest brought together nearly 3,000 students from across the U.S. and international schools. Sixty-five students represented Indiana, having advanced through local and state-level competitions in one of five project categories: documentary, exhibit, paper, performance or website. Fewer than 1% of all projects nationally reach the final contest.

Four Indiana projects earned Honorable Mentions, which recognizes the entries ranking in the top 20 nationally but did not advance to finals, including a Junior Individual Documentary titled “Yellowface and the Right to Play Oneself” by Tabitha Ko of Sycamore School.

“We are thrilled to be returning to the National Contest this year! Indiana’s students explored this year’s theme of Rights & Responsibilities by creating exhibits, performances, websites, documentaries, and papers,” said Lexi Gribble, Manager, Education and NHDI State Coordinator. “I am incredibly proud of the work they put in to prepare and present their projects for the judges at the National contest. I hope this experience inspires them to continue to explore history and develop strong research skills!”

NHDI is a yearlong program dedicated to enhancing history education in Indiana schools. Students in grades 4–12 explore a historical topic related to an annual theme. This year’s theme, “Rights & Responsibilities in History,” invited students to examine how the relationship between individuals and society has been shaped by the balance between what people are entitled to and what is expected of them.

The 2025 NHDI Contest is presented by the Rooker Family Foundation, with support from the Vigran Family Foundation.
For more information, visit www.indianahistory.org/historyday or call (317) 232-1882.

About National History Day® (NHD)
NHD is a non-profit organization based in College Park, Maryland, which seeks to improve the teaching and learning of history. The National History Day Contest was established in 1974 and currently engages more than half a million students every year in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. Students present their research as a documentary, exhibit, paper, performance, or website. Projects compete first at the local and affiliate levels, where the top entries are invited to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park. NHD is sponsored in part by HISTORY®, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Park Service, Southwest Airlines, the Crown Family Foundation, The Better Angels Society, and the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation. For more information, visit nhd.org.

About the Indiana Historical Society (IHS)
The Indiana Historical Society collects and preserves Indiana’s unique stories; brings Hoosiers together in remembering and sharing the past; and inspires a future grounded in our state’s uniting values and principles. IHS is a Smithsonian Affiliate.

2025 NATIONAL HISTORY DAY® NATIONAL CONTEST RESULTS, INDIANA

2nd Place
Benjamin Lu, Divya Ariyur, Emma An, Shawn Feng
Senior Group Documentary
Carmel High School, Carmel
“Buried Rights and Broken Duties: Love Canal and the Call for Responsibility”

2nd Place
Katelyn Chen
Senior Individual Website
Carmel High School, Carmel
“Gaokao 1977: Restoring Citizens’ Rights and the Chinese Government’s Responsibility to Higher Education”

3rd Place
Aesop Birkemeier, Alison Schrader, Kaleb Ice, Sully Rockwell
Junior Group Performance
Brown County Middle School, Nashville
“Rights and Responsibilities in History: Remembering the Legacy of Ryan White”

NHD Indiana Honorable Mentions (Top 20 in the Nation)
Abhijay Masetty
Junior Paper
Discovery Middle School, Granger
“The Bonus Army March of 1932: A Fight for Determination, Unity, and to Uphold One’s Responsibilities”

Tabitha Ko
Junior Individual Documentary
Sycamore School, Indianapolis
“Yellowface and the Right to Play Oneself”

Ella Guo, Siyu Pei, Tiffany Gao, Zaina Khan
Senior Group Performance
Carmel High School, Carmel
“One Man, One Case, One Legacy: Korematsu’s Stand”

Imogen Catlin
Senior Individual Exhibit
Carmel High School, Carmel
“The Circus”

Outstanding Affiliate Entries

Outstanding Affiliate Entry, Junior Division
Ayan Kalra
Junior Individual Documentary
Creekside Middle School, Carmel
“World War II: When Rights Clashed With Responsibility”

Outstanding Affiliate Entry, Senior Division
Ella Guo, Siyu Pei, Tiffany Gao, Zaina Khan
Senior Group Performance
Carmel High School, Carmel
“One Man, One Case, One Legacy: Korematsu’s Stand”

Showcased Projects

Exhibit Showcase at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
Henry Brogan and Sidhanth Kashyap
Senior Group Exhibit
Carmel High School, Carmel
“Forged and Forgotten: The Steel Industry’s Rights and Responsibilities in the Decline of Gary, Indiana”

Documentary Showcase at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture
Tabitha Ko
Junior Individual Documentary
Sycamore School, Indianapolis
“Yellowface and the Right to Play Oneself”

Paper Showcase with the White House Historical Association
Abhijay Masetty
Junior Paper
Discovery Middle School, Granger
“The Bonus Army March of 1932: A Fight for Determination, Unity, and to Uphold One’s Responsibilities”

King Lok Wang
Senior Paper
Culver Academies, Culver
“States’ Rights and National Responsibilities Within the Nullification Crisis”

Share this post:

<Previous Story Indiana Students Heading to Nationals for the 2025 National History Day Contest