2011 Florida History Fair
State Contest Winners

The following teachers and students received awards at the Florida History Fair state competition Awards Ceremony on May 3, 2011.

Teacher of Merit

Sponsored by Flagler College Tallahassee, the Teacher of Merit Award honors an educator who has been involved with Florida History Fair for five or fewer years. The winner receives a $500 U.S. savings bond and becomes Florida’s nominee for the PBS Teacher of Merit Award, presented at the National History Day contest at the University of Maryland in June.

Candes Clifford

Safety Harbor Middle School, Clearwater (Pinellas)

Ms. Clifford teaches eighth-grade U.S. history at Safety Harbor Middle School. She has participated in FHF for three years.

Patricia Behring
Teacher of the Year Award

The Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award is given to a junior division and a senior division teacher who has been involved with the Florida History Fair for at least six years. 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.

Christine Sermons - Junior Division

Merritt Brown Middle School, Panama City (Bay)

Ms. Sermons teaches eighth-grade U.S. history at Merritt Brown Middle School. She has participated in FHF for eighteen years.

Suzanne Bates-Miranda - Senior Division

F. W. Springstead High School, Spring Hill (Hernando)

Ms. Bates-Miranda teaches ninth- and tenth-grade world history and AP European history at F. W. Springstead High School. She has participated in FHF for fourteen years.

Junior Historical Paper

Placement Entry
1st Place

Yasamin Sharifi
Unintended Consequences: The United States and Iran; A Failure in Diplomacy
Chiles Middle School (Seminole)
Teacher: Laura Cornwell-Estes
2nd Place

Brianna Leatherwood
Florida's Territorial Rights and Border Controversies: Successes, Failures, and Consequences of the United States' and Spain's Diplomatic Negotiations
Bellview Middle School (Escambia)
Teachers: Haley Close, Barbara Jacobs
3rd Place

Ian McKinney
The Indian Removal Act of 1830: A Failure of the Diplomatic Relations Between the United States and the Five Civilized Tribes
Lawton Chiles Middle Academy (Polk)
Teachers: Marsha Yoder, Leon Williams

Senior Historical Paper

Placement Entry
1st Place

Heather Davidson
Early American Diplomacy: Jay Treaty (1796)
Deland High School (Volusia)
Teacher: Joel Slingerland
2nd Place

Ana Bautista
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff: Economic Debate, International Diplomacy, and the Great Depression
Stanton College Preparatory (Duval)
Teacher: David Holcombe
3rd Place

Madison Chapman
Property or Person: The Debate and Diplomacy of the Three-Fifths Compromise
Homeschool (Manatee)
Teacher: Deborah Chapman

Junior Individual Documentary

Placement Entry
1st Place

Michael Paul Saturno
Military Desegregation: A Turning Point in American History
Chiles Middle School (Seminole)
Teacher: Jennifer Capp
2nd Place

Shelby Kurland
The Moon Debate: Distance Between Two Points
Rock Lake Middle School (Seminole)
Teacher: Kristi King
3rd Place

Katie Jones
Where to Excavate: Panama or Nicaragua?
Swift Creek Middle School (Leon)
Teachers: Stephen Veliz, Matt Rousseau

Junior Group Documentary

Placement Entry
1st Place

Matthew McGovern, Freya Wang
Ping Pong Diplomacy
Farnell Middle School (Hillsborough)
Teachers: Gene Hazel, Wendi Merritt
2nd Place

Erin van Gorkom, Robin J. Best
A Controversial Universe: Debates About the Expanding Universe Theory
Fort Clarke Middle School (Alachua)
Teacher: Jennifer Thomas
3rd Place

Natalie Henning, Madison Noall, Joseph Young-Perez, Martin Winton
A Nation Shattered: Prelude to the Civil War
Canterbury School (Lee)
Teacher: Evan Crawford

Senior Individual Documentary

Placement Entry
1st Place

Ernest Britt
Rumble in the Jungle: Upton Sinclair and the Fight for Reform
Spruce Creek High School (Volusia)
Teacher: Nicholas Prince
2nd Place

Carl Zee
The Bonus Army: Diplomacy in Peaceful Protest
F. W. Springstead High School (Hernando)
Teacher: Suzanne Miranda
3rd Place

Isaac Berner
Summer of '67: Failed Negotiations and Diplomacy that Escalated the Six-Day War
Shorecrest Preparatory School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Ron Heller

Senior Group Documentary

Placement Entry
1st Place

Matt Mariutto, Nicole Mariutto
The Gay Rights Debate of 1977
American Heritage School (Broward)
Teacher: Leslie Porges
2nd Place

Zac Smith, Michael Warren, Steven Tellios, Jason Kiracofe, Dan Allweiss
Nationalism and Diplomacy: The 1956 Suez Crisis
Shorecrest Preparatory School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Ron Heller
3rd Place

Jordan Sanders, Ashley Gillam
Separate but Equal? How the Jim Crow Law Affected African American Music in Florida
Braden River High School (Manatee)
Teachers: Eric Nelson, Jillian Bieber

Junior Individual Performance

Placement Entry
1st Place

Paul Reischmann
Neville Chamberlain and the Munich Conference: Cowardly Submission or Bold Pursuit of Peace?
Shorecrest Preparatory School (Pinellas)
Teacher: David Hodgson
2nd Place

Kael Madison
Doubt Is the Father of Invention: Galileo Takes on the Pigeon League
Woodham Middle School (Escambia)
Teacher: Summer DeMilly
3rd Place

Kensley Knoll
Surrendering Their Spirits
Buffalo Creek Middle School (Manatee)
Teacher: Joseph Baker

Junior Group Performance

Placement Entry
1st Place

Jessica Hamacher, Jaime Kay
Starvation in Ireland: An International Diplomatic Crisis
Dunedin Highland Middle School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Teresa Bergstrom
2nd Place

Riley Farrow, Brittyn Hamer, Kimberly Ferguson, Logan Saliga
Debate in the White City: Industrialism, Consumerism, Innovation, Failure, and Their Connections with the Columbian Exposition of 1893
Tuskawilla Middle School (Seminole)
Teacher: Rebekah Maggio
3rd Place

Annie Wallace, Jasmine Qronfleh, Shay Potter
"A Bird Named Enza:" Debating the 1918 Influenza Epidemic
Merritt Brown Middle School (Bay)
Teachers: Christine Sermons, Susan Granberg

Senior Individual Performance

Placement Entry
1st Place

Mackenzie Yaryura
Rosa Luxemburg: Passion and Sacrifice
Southeast High School (Manatee)
Teachers: Diane Vestrand, Cathy Slusser
2nd Place

Amanda Patton
"Image Replaced the Printed Word" The Successes and Failures of the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon Televised Debates
Pensacola High School (Escambia)
Teacher: Michael Jones
3rd Place

Gabriela Pickett
United States v. O'Brien: Sparking a Controversy
Canterbury School (Lee)
Teachers: Ronald Young, Evan Crawford

Senior Group Performance

Placement Entry
1st Place

Theresa Button, Matt Fennema, John Paul Gagliano, Daniel Mangan
The Pyrrhic Victory that Launched a Presidency: The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Homeschool (Leon)
Teacher: Lynn Mangan
2nd Place

Alice Leavengood, Adrianna Wenz, Annie Schneider, James Wenz, Logan Elder
The Plot that Made Britain Great: Elizabeth, Mary, and the Babington Plot
Shorecrest Preparatory School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Ron Heller
3rd Place

Tyler Bryant, Tony Dickup, Anthony Miller
The Indian Removal Act and Andrew Jackson's Gunboat Diplomacy
West Florida High School/Technical (Escambia)
Teacher: Tiffany Odom

Junior Individual Exhibit

Placement Entry
1st Place

Tristan Simmons
On the Brink of War: The Cuban Missile Crisis
Turkey Creek Middle School (Hillsborough)
Teacher: Kristen Holloway
2nd Place

Joanna Deng
The Stamp Act Crisis
Bellview Middle School (Escambia)
Teachers: Haley Close, Barbara Jacobs
3rd Place

Sean Brodney
Dropping the Bomb
Thurgood Marshall Fundamental (Pinellas)
Teacher: Susan Pendergraft

Junior Group Exhibit

Placement Entry
1st Place

Andrew English, David Contento
The Cuban Missile Crisis
American Heritage School (Broward)
Teacher: Leslie Porges
2nd Place

Samantha Berner, Jordana Berner, Gabriela Berner
Man on the Moon
City of Coral Springs Charter (Broward)
Teachers: Michele Moore, Lasylvia McCorvey
3rd Place

Drayton Diggs, Jordan Diggs
Brother Against Brother
Trafalgar Middle School (Lee)
Teacher: Sue Tracy

Senior Individual Exhibit

Placement Entry
1st Place

Nick Gupta
Dire Straits: The 1956 Suez Crisis
Pensacola High School (Escambia)
Teacher: Michael Jones
2nd Place

Jalen Benson
Suffrage Debates: Poll Tax, Literacy Test, and the Grandfather Clause
Pensacola High School (Escambia)
Teachers: Tracy Brown, Michael Jones
3rd Place

Sameer Saboungi
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 and Its Impact
Spruce Creek High School (Volusia)
Teacher: Karie Cappiello

Senior Group Exhibit

Placement Entry
1st Place

Asia Cravens, Maya Crosby
Jackie Robinson
J. M. Tate Senior High School (Escambia)
Teachers: Chris Williams, Clint Peacock
2nd Place

Jose Serra, Maria Ferreira
When America "Meats" Reality
American Heritage School (Broward)
Teachers: Leslie Porges, Krisynda Cicos
3rd Place

Jori Mansfield, Jennifer Levalley
Peace In Our Time?
East Lake High School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Alan Kay

Junior Individual Web Site

Placement Entry
1st Place

Chase Vaughn
The Cuban Missile Crisis Debate
Swift Creek Middle School (Leon)
Teachers: Stephen Veliz, Grace Bigelow
2nd Place

Alexis Beans
Iran Hostage Crisis
Northport K-8 School (St. Lucie)
Teacher: Mary Ellsworth
3rd Place

Nicholas Krostag
Tinkering with Students' Freedom of Expression: Disruption vs. Expression
Ransom Middle School (Escambia)
Teacher: Janet Enfinger

Junior Group Web Site

Placement Entry
1st Place

Nicole Kimmel, Heba Nassereddeen
Little Emperors from an Exploding Population: The Debate and Diplomacy of China's One Child Policy
Tuskawilla Middle School (Seminole)
Teacher: Rebekah Maggio
2nd Place

Alec Emser, Arber Muharemi
Cuban Missile Crisis: Thirteen Days of Tension
Seminole Middle School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Sarah DeTurk
3rd Place

Cassie McDonald, Erica Dunlap
Atomic Bomb: Right or Wrong?
Osceola Middle School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Tom LaPorta

Senior Individual Web Site

Placement Entry
1st Place

Robert Mines
The Cuban Missile Crisis: Diplomacy Averting Mutually Assured Destruction
West Florida High School/Technical (Escambia)
Teacher: Tiffany Odom
2nd Place

Evie Sobczak
The Right-to-Die: The Ultimate Human Right Debate
Shorecrest Preparatory School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Ron Heller
3rd Place

Laura Silva
Failed Diplomacy: Munich Agreement of 1938
Osceola County School of Arts (Osceola)
Teacher: Mary Thiele

Senior Group Web Site

Placement Entry
1st Place

Harrison Pincket, Dominic Chiampi, Alix Rousseliere, Gabrielle DiLullo
The Scramble for Africa
Bartow Senior High School (Polk)
Teacher: Theodore Wright
2nd Place

Kevin Olieveira, Koby Craig, Cody Emmerman
The Vietnam War: Intervention of the United States
F. W. Springstead High School (Hernando)
Teachers: Suzanne Miranda, Eric Swensen
3rd Place

Ravi Kohli, Kurt Yilmaz, Brent Beck
Diplomatic Debates on Robben Island
East Lake High School (Pinellas)
Teacher: Alan Kay