Goose Creek CISD students advancing to the National History Day contest in College Park, Maryland, are (front, from left) Havi Nguyen, Danielle Garcia and Priscilla Garcia, all from Ross S. Sterling High School, (back from left) Tomas de la Rosa from RSS, Matthew Broussard from IMPACT Early College High School and Kyleigh Fanning from RSS. Not pictured is Benjamin Warford-Johnston from Gentry Junior School.

Goose Creek CISD kept up the district’s winning tradition at the Texas History Day competition, advancing seven of the 46 students who earned the privilege to compete at State to the National History Day contest in College Park, Maryland.

Tomas de la Rosa from Ross S. Sterling High School won 1st place with his Senior Historical Paper “An Alien Race That Should Be Segregated Socially: Mendez v. Westminster.” He is under the direction of teacher Donna Britt.

Danielle Garcia and Priscilla Garcia from Sterling, under the direction of teacher Stephanie Cottle, won 1st place in Group Exhibit with “WWII Women Airforce Service Pilots: Exchanging Traditional Roles, Exploring Military Aviation and Encountering Discrimination.

Matthew Broussard from IMPACT Early College High School, sponsored by Steve Koester, and Kyleigh Fanning from Sterling, sponsored by Michael Fanning, took home 2nd place for Senior Group Documentary with “From Confederation to Nation.” They also received the George Washington Leadership Award.
Havi Nguyen from Sterling, won 3rd place in Senior Individual Exhibit for “Nikola Tesla: Altering a New Era,” under the direction of Stephanie Cottle. She will advance to Nationals since another competitor in this category is unable to compete.

Benjamin Warford-Johnston’s entry in Junior Historical Paper “American Colonial Committees of Correspondence: Encountering Oppression, Exploring Unity, and Exchanging Visions of the Future” took 2nd place. Warford-Johnston attends Gentry Junior School, and his teacher is Tara Fountain. He also received the Colonial Dames Award.

Grace Muller from Cedar Bayou Junior School received the Jane McCallum Women in Texas History Award for her Junior Individual Performance entry “WASPS: Exploring the Air, Encountering Obstacles, and Exchanging Roles.” Her teacher is Ashley Thurgood. Utkarsh Sharma and Soham Datar placed 4th in the Senior Group Website category for “The Integrated Circuit: The Small Chip that made Big IMPACT,” which received The Dick and Scotty Memorial “Pioneering Texas Spirit” Award. They attend Goose Creek Memorial High School, and their coach is Stephanie Schrull.

Distinguished Achievement Awards were also given to several Goose Creek CISD students. Jacob Kingsmill received an award for his Junior Individual Documentary entry “The Christmas Truce: Exploring Peace, Exchanging Gifts, Encountering Humanity.” Kingsmill is from Highlands Junior and is under the direction of Michella Jones.

Riley Benoit from Cedar Bayou Junior School received a Distinguished Achievement Award for a Junior Individual Documentary entry “Flying the Hump: Encountering the Himalayas.” Benoit attends Cedar Bayou Junior School, and his teacher is Lori Austin. Carli Norris and Jordyn Serrano received this award for their Junior Group Exhibit “Women’s Roles in WWII.” They attend Gentry Junior School and are under the direction of Tara Fountain.
A Distinguished Achievement Award went to Annelysse Lopez, Joshua Rice and Esmeralda Herrera from Robert E. Lee High School for their Senior Group Performance “Pop Goes the World!” They are under the direction of Rosemary Calico-Hopson. Brienne Schrull also received a Distinguished Achievement Award for her Senior Individual Exhibit “Misty Copeland: Dancing into History.” She attends Goose Creek Memorial and is under the direction of Stephanie Schrull.

“The quality of student work this year for Texas History Day was impressive. Our Goose Creek students did an outstanding job in Austin. I am so proud of not only the work submitted by our students, but also of the level of professionalism and maturity our students displayed throughout the competition,” said Faith Longorio, social studies coordinator. “One of the most impressive qualities of our students and teachers this year was how much they supported each other at the competition. Everyone exemplified the fact that Goose Creek is one family, no matter the home campus - encouraging and looking out for one another.”