Four students from St. Benedict School are heading to the National History Day finals

Jaden Weis and Chloe Dixon (Photos courtesy of State Historical Society of Iowa)

Four St. Benedict's School students have qualified for the 2018 National History Day Contest June 10th through the 14th at the University of Maryland.  Alex Kane, Jaden Weis, Chloe Dixon and Jenna Hartz were four of the 70 students chosen from the entire state of Iowa to travel to the national contest.

Jenna Hartz was chosen for Nationals in the "Junior Individual Documentary" category for "The Tripolitan War: A Fight Against Coastal Corsairs."  Alex Kane won in the "Junior Individual Performance" category for her project, "Conflict and Compromise In Lowell: Girls Go On Strike."  Jaden Weis and Chloe Dixon won in the "Junior Group Exhibit" category for their exhibit on "Engel versus Vitale: Prayer in School." 

All four were coached by St. Benedict School's Patty Lien.  They will now head to College Park, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., where they will compete against nearly 3,000 students from the United States, Guam, American Samoa, Department of Defense Schools in Europe, and international schools in China, Korea and South Asia.
 
National History Day is a year-long academic enrichment program that challenges students to research, develop and present papers, exhibits, documentaries, websites and performances about historical issues, ideas, people and events related to an annual theme. This year's theme is "Conflict and Compromise in History."

Jenna Hartz (Click on photo for larger image)

Alex Kane