2013 Florida History Fair
State Contest Winners

The following teachers and students received awards at the Florida History Fair state competition Awards Ceremony on May 7, 2013.

Teacher of Merit Award

Florida History Fair annually honors an educator with the Teacher of Merit Award for creative history teaching within and outside the classroom. To be eligible, a teacher must have at least three years of experience as an FHF participant. The $250 prize is sponsored by Flagler College Tallahassee, which is based at Tallahassee Community College.

Sarah DeTurk

Seminole Middle School, Seminole (Pinellas)

Sarah DeTurk teaches 8th-grade U.S. history and has participated in Florida History Fair for four years. To implement the National History Day curriculum in her classes, she organizes her room so students work in small groups based on their category of entry. She provides guidance and review during the research process to ensure that students understand sound research, unbiased analysis, and concise communication of facts.

Patricia Behring
Teacher of the Year Award

The Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award is given to an outstanding junior division and senior division National History Day educator. The recipients receive a check for $500 and become Florida's nominees for the junior and senior Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Awards that are presented at the national contest.

Cynthia Cheatwood - Junior Division

Orange Park Middle School, Orange Park (Clay)

Cindy Cheatwood teaches 7th-grade civics and 8th-grade U.S. history. Fourteen years ago, after watching her teenage daughter participate in National History Day in Duval County, she decided to change from teaching elementary to middle school so she could incorporate the program into her curriculum. Two years later her family moved to Clay County, where she introduced the Florida History Fair program and has remained county coordinator.

Tea McCaulla - Senior Division

Manatee School for the Arts, Palmetto (Manatee)

Tea McCaulla teaches 10th-grade English and 9th- to 12th-grade debate and journalism. She has participated in National History Day for eight years, first as a new teacher in Ohio. She introduced it in her second school in North Carolina and brought it to Manatee School for the Arts when she began teaching there two years ago. As an English teacher, she sees the correlation between history and the need for strong research and communication skills to conduct effective historical inquiry.

Junior Historical Paper

Placement Entry
1st Place

Kelly Lanxin Wu
Turning the Political Tide: The Russo-Japanese War as a Turning Point in Europe's Decline and Asia's Awakening
Gulf Breeze Middle School (Santa Rosa)
Teacher: Grace Freeman
2nd Place

Adrianna Williams
Henrietta's Immortality: How One Woman's Cells Shaped Medical History
Swift Creek Middle School (Leon)
Teacher: Stephen Veliz
3rd Place

Ronan Wilson
Nikola Tesla: Electrifying the World with Alternating Current
Tuskawilla Middle School (Seminole)
Teacher: Cindy Newcome

Senior Historical Paper

Placement Entry
1st Place

Franco Bautista
Andrew Jackson and the Bank War: A Turning Point in American Economics and Politics
Stanton College Preparatory School (Duval)
Teacher: David Holcombe
2nd Place

Rachel Joyner
Age of Antibiotics: The Transformation of Medicine and the Subsequent Arms Race Between Man and Microbe
Leon High School (Leon)
Teacher: Lewis Tillman
3rd Place

Harshath Gupta
The Daring Discovery of DNA
American Heritage School (Broward)
Teachers: Leslie Porges, Lorraine Roth

Junior Individual Documentary

Placement Entry
1st Place

Elizabeth Herrick
John F. Lacey: Father of Federal Conservation Legislation
American Heritage School (Broward)
Teachers: Leslie Porges, Daniela Cohn
2nd Place

Paul Snider, Jr.
Turn Tide Turn: The Integration of Football at the University of Alabama
Gulf Breeze Middle School (Santa Rosa)
Teacher: Grace Freeman
3rd Place

Cattie Li
38th Parallel: The Dividing of a Nation
Deerlake Middle School (Leon)
Teacher: Gretchen Bertram

Junior Group Documentary

Placement Entry
1st Place

Tara Nibhanupudy, Dhruv Dadhania, Aaron Zhang
Ether Day 1846 - The Day Pain Died: A Turning Point in Medical History
Sanford Middle School (Seminole)
Teacher: Mike Travis
2nd Place

Tuan Tran, Julie Nguyen
End of the Vietnam War: A Turning Point for Vietnamese Immigrants and Its Impact on America
Diplomat Middle School (Lee)
Teacher: Melissa Dahlberg
3rd Place

Luke Johnston, Dominique Xi
D-Day: The Beginning of the End of WWII
Fort Clarke Middle School (Alachua)
Teachers: Jennifer Thomas, Katherine Haro

Senior Individual Documentary

Placement Entry
1st Place

Nikki Mariutto
"Rhapsody in Blue": A Turning Point in American Music
American Heritage School (Broward)
Teachers: Leslie Porges, Lorraine Roth
2nd Place

Oliver Gray
The Cuyahoga River: A Turning Point for the Environmentalist Movement
Pine View School (Sarasota)
Teacher: Patricia Regan
3rd Place

Gabrielle Deutch
Shaping America's Policy on Genocide
Spanish River Community High School (Palm Beach)
Teachers: Kimberley Green, Michael Bartholomew

Senior Group Documentary

Placement Entry
1st Place

Dane Parchment, Mashli Fleurestil
Brown v Board of Education: Equal Rights for All
Sheridan Hills Christian School (Broward)
Teacher: Nikki Berger
2nd Place

Thomas Kelly IV, Richard Ehlers
Turning Point in History: The Dropping of the Atomic Bomb
Pine View School (Sarasota)
Teacher: Patricia Regan
3rd Place

Taylor Merritt, Olivia Ross
Dorthea Lange: Giving a Face to the Great Depression
Pensacola Catholic High School (Escambia)
Teacher: Eric Nelson

Junior Individual Performance

Placement Entry
1st Place

Shaila Ghanekar
Pointing Fingers and Turning Heads: McCarthy's Attack on Personal Liberties to Ensure Domestic Security
Dunedin Highland Middle School (Pinellas)
Teachers: Calla Alford, Kathleen Earle, Teresa Bergstrom
2nd Place

Macy Mateer
Barbara Walters: Changing the Channel for Women in Broadcasting
Gulf Breeze Middle School (Santa Rosa)
Teacher: Grace Freeman
3rd Place

Kat Peterson
Medicine Woman's Song
Farnell Middle School (Hillsborough)
Teacher: Gene Hazel

Junior Group Performance

Placement Entry
1st Place

Mary Nguyen, Meara Goodman, Bria Owens, Emily McKinley
Educating Eve
Merritt Brown Middle School (Bay)
Teachers: Christine Sermons, Susan Granberg, Sanita Tanette Owens
2nd Place

Jordan Latimer, Jacob Stavres, Evan Stewart, Daniel Sweeney
Apollo 11: Making the Impossible Possible
Sacred Heart Home Educators (Leon)
Teachers: Christie Stavres, Renee Sweeney, Cheryl Latimer
3rd Place

Grace Gerdes, Brionna Newell, Kaliyah Newell
Brown v the Board of Education
Booker Middle School (Sarasota)
Teacher: Brittany Shurley

Senior Individual Performance

Placement Entry
1st Place

Paul Reischmann
Winston's Back: A Turning Point in World War II
Shorecrest Preparatory School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Ron Heller
2nd Place

Lauren Shumpert
Learning How to Swim
Pensacola High School (Escambia)
Teacher: Michael Jones
3rd Place

Elliott Riches
NHD: A Turning Point in History Education
American Heritage School (Broward)
Teacher: Leslie Porges

Senior Group Performance

Placement Entry
1st Place

Brent Christman, Samantha Johnson, Samantha Coto
The Everglades: River of Grass
Calvary Christian Academy (Broward)
Teachers: Mark Dineen, Richard Blatz
2nd Place

Kaitlyn Samons, Jessica Sottile, Christopher Ralph, Daniel Levene
A Baby's Breath vs. a Woman's Choice
American Heritage School (Broward)
Teachers: Leslie Porges, John Briano
3rd Place

Joshua Buchanan, Joseph Thyer
Martin Luther and the Sale of Indulgences
Lincoln High School (Leon)
Teacher: Craig Ross

Junior Individual Exhibit

Placement Entry
1st Place

Kyle Erickson
The 1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill: A Turning Point in Environmental History
Farnell Middle School (Hillsborough)
Teacher: Gene Hazel
2nd Place

Aria Delmar
Corned Beef, Coffee, and Chocolate
Merritt Brown Middle School (Bay)
Teacher: Christina Sermons
3rd Place

Sarah Puchner
Where No Flag Flew: The Riots that Turned History in the Panama Canal
Brown Barge Middle School (Escambia)
Teacher: Lauren Basford

Junior Group Exhibit

Placement Entry
1st Place

Krupali Patel, Lauren Zweifel
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Blazing the Trail for Labor Reforms
Lake Highland Preparatory School (Orange)
Teachers: Alex Hujik, Lee Pope
2nd Place

Hannah Cuevas, Emma Hamrick
NASA's Impact on Florida
Saint Paul Catholic School (Escambia)
Teacher: Lori Cuevas
3rd Place

Breanna Nax, Alex King
The F.D.A.: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Greenwood Lakes Middle School (Seminole)
Teacher: Kristi King

Senior Individual Exhibit

Placement Entry
1st Place

Sarah Brooks
Ancient Language, Modern Warfare: The Secret Mission of the Navajo Code Talkers
Lincoln High School (Leon)
Teacher: Nick Bertram
2nd Place

Mia Radovanovic
Margaret Sanger: The Birth of Women's Control
Palm Harbor University High (Pinellas)
Teacher: Malla Kolhoff
3rd Place

Breanna Bruner
All Aboard to Florida! The Grand Hotels of the Two Henrys
Lincoln High School (Leon)
Teachers: BillieAnne Gay, Nick Bertram

Senior Group Exhibit

Placement Entry
1st Place

Jordana Berner, Samantha Berner, Gabriela Berner
Three Mile Island
Coral Springs Charter School (Broward)
Teachers: Tamara Moore, Michelle Moore
2nd Place

Stephanie Katz, Gabrielle Michaeli
A Landmark Decision
American Heritage School (Broward)
Teachers: Leslie Porges, John Briano
3rd Place

Abbigail Hines, Taylor Shelby
Through the Lens of Time
East Lake High School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Alan Kay

Junior Individual Web Site

Placement Entry
1st Place

Elizabeth Garrison
The Seneca Falls Convention: Women Unite!
City of Pembroke Pines Charter Middle School West (Broward)
Teacher: Deanne Reynolds
2nd Place

Amy Paskiewicz
Chairman Mao's Purgatory: The Impact of Communist Rule on China
Dunedin Highland Middle School (Pinellas)
Teachers: Calla Alford, Kathleen Earle, Teresa Bergstrom
3rd Place

Andrew Deitz
Battle of the Coral Sea: Turning of the Tide
Louise R. Johnson Middle School (Manatee)
Teacher: Marilyn Kelly

Junior Group Web Site

Placement Entry
1st Place

Rylee Gorman, Austin Staubs
Credit Cards... Fantastic Plastic
Palm Harbor Middle School (Pinellas)
Teachers: Michelle Anderson, Don Rosin
2nd Place

Cypress Potter, Samantha Copeland
The Great Compromise: Turning Political Mayhem Into Peace
Carlos E. Haile Middle School (Manatee)
Teacher: Carol Charlton
3rd Place

Andrew Kolondra, Kishan Patel
Flagler's Folly
American Heritage School (Broward)
Teacher: Leslie Porges

Senior Individual Web Site

Placement Entry
1st Place

Alexandria Witherspoon
The Inaugural Attempt at Drainage in the Everglades: Altering an Ecosystem Forever
St. Petersburg High School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Adelle Haley
2nd Place

Emily Greentree
Ryan White, Changing the Face of Aids
Alexander W. Dreyfoos Junior School of the Arts (Palm Beach)
Teacher: Sara Stout
3rd Place

James Niffenegger
The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Turning Point for Diplomacy
Pine View School (Sarasota)
Teacher: Patricia Regan

Senior Group Web Site

Placement Entry
1st Place

Abigail Youngblood, Elizabeth Lea
Silent Spring: The Birds Will Sing Again
J.R. Arnold High School (Bay)
Teacher: Jeff Skipper
2nd Place

Maria Yidi, Isabela Mansour
The Lost Faces on the Milk Cartons
American Heritage School (Broward)
Teachers: Leslie Porges, John Briano
3rd Place

Drew Anderson, Sarah Fuller
Sputnik: A Turning Point in Space Exploration and Technology
Pensacola Catholic High School (Escambia)
Teacher: Eric Nelson