Below are the 2009 results as they pertain to Wyoming’s History Day students:

Robert Coulter was awarded first place in the Junior Division for Individual Documentary. His entry was titled, “Senekerim Dohanian: Uncle Sam’s Ace Insect Hunter”. Robert is a student at South Elementary School in Lander and his teacher is Kendra Bush. Robert is the second Wyoming student in a row to win this category. It is rumored that this category will be renamed “Wyoming’s Individual Documentary” category.

Jacob Zumo, last year’s champion in the Junior Division for Individual Documentary, finished in 10 th place out of 91 entries this year. This means that both the first and the second place winners from Wyoming made the finals (top 14) at National History Day in this category. As many of you know, Jacob is from Cheyenne and his teacher/mentor is Jennifer Calvetti. His entry this year was titled “A Broken Man to a Raging Tiger: A Failure of Military Intelligence”Jacob made extensive use of the Husband E. Kimmel collection here at the AHC in creating his entry.

Four other Junior Division Entries made the finals. They were:

Kirstie and Kaylee Lind from Jessup Elementary in Cheyenne. They finished in 11 th place out of 87 entries in the group documentary category. Their entry was “Seeing is Believing: Lewis Hine’s Visual Legacy”. Their teacher is Bridget Dubberley.

Kennedy Thatch from Starrett Junior High in Lander was 9 th overall for her individual performance titled “Chief Washakie: Quick to Observe”. There were 76 entries in this category. Her teacher is Stacey Polson.

Alexandra Briere and London Homer-Wambeam who are homeschooled here in Laramie placed 5 th overall in the group performance category for their entry, “Theodore Suess Geisel: Moral and Social Justice Fighter. There were 84 entries in this category. They were recognized with the Junior Division Outstanding Entry from Wyoming Award.

Louisa Austin and Montanna Sannes, also students of Stacey Polson at Starrett Junior High in Lander, finished 11 th overall in the group performance category. Their entry was titled, “Martha Graham - A Lesson in courage: A Story of Contemporary Dance”. Two entries from Wyoming made the finals in this category.

Finally, Ciara Foldenauer won a scholarship from Chaminade University in Honolulu for her entry, “Gloria Steinem” in the Senior Division web site category. She attends Natrona County High School in Casper and her teacher is Bruce Berst.

While these students were recognized publicly for their outstanding work many others presented their work and did a fine job. These students found the NHD competition to be an especially rewarding experience and hopefully many of them will be back again at the 2010 Wyoming History Day State Contest. That contest is scheduled for April 25 and 26, 2010.

Richard Kean, Wyoming History Day Coordinator, American Heritage Center. 307-766-2300 or rkean@uwyo.edu