Montrose Sweeps National History Day Competition

Nine students advanced to States.
Montrose School has made history again, sweeping the National History Day (NHD) Regional Level Competition, with nine students having advanced to the state competition, including Meredith Baker ‘23, who won regional gold for her exhibit “More Than a Me: The Decision to Compete in Berlin.” 

In addition to student achievements, Montrose faculty member Kristine Forsgard learned on April 11 that she has been nominated for the Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year award in the senior division of the NHD National Contest. Ms. Forsgard, a history and science teacher at Montrose for the last seven years, received the nomination in recognition of the pivotal role she plays in the lives of students.

Students who won regional silver awards include Cecilia Ashenuga ‘24 for her documentary “Deliberation During the Balkan Wars,” Cecilia Deslaurier-Tate ‘24 for her website “Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West: A Stampede of Cultural Diplomacy to Europe, 1887-1906,” Whitney Uche ‘25 for her website “The debate over a western territory that led to the Nigeria coup of 1965,” and Abigail Scollins ‘25 and Liesl-Ann Vaz ‘25 for their website “Pearl Harbor: The Diplomatic Turning Point Between the United States and Japan.”

Bronze winners include Cate Lynch ‘24 and Rosie Reale ‘24 for their website “Hitler's Dress Rehearsal: German Intervention in the Spanish Civil War,” and Katie Ryan ‘25 for her website “The debate over the Polish government's responsibility to compensate Polish Jews whose property was confiscated under Nazi occupation.” 
 
Each year over a half-million students participate in the National History Day contest, including more than 6,000 Massachusetts students. The contest is sponsored by National History Day, a non-profit education organization based in College Park, Maryland. Students take part in regional and state competitions to earn a spot in the national competition and are invited to create papers, projects and presentations built around a specific yearly theme. The 2021-2022 NHD theme is Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences.

Montrose students have excelled in NHD since 2018, and each year many advance to the state and national contests. Guided by top-tier Montrose faculty, Mrs. Kristine Forsgard, Mrs. Barbara Whitlock and Dr. Laura Michel, Montrose NHD students develop the habits of mind, heart, and character of exceptional historians and authors. Driven by curiosity, they choose fascinating topics and demanding research questions. They approach their area of interest with compassion, empathy and a deep commitment to discovering truth. 

“The most valuable part about participating in NHD for me has to be the feeling that I’m contributing to help spread awareness about a large, important issue,” said silver medal winner Katie Ryan ‘25. “I was able to get interviews with people who experienced my topic, as well as someone who worked for the State Department in the special envoy surrounding my topic. I felt like I built relationships with these people, which added to my feeling of wanting to succeed with my project.”

Students advancing to the state level competed at Winchester High School on April 9. Cee-Cee Deslaurier-Tate '23 won honorable mention for the individual website category. Meredith Baker ‘23 won the Red Sox award for the best topic in sports history, and Abby Scollins and Liesl-Ann Vaz '25 earned a special award from the Mass Maritime Academy for a topic in military history. 

Complete list of 2022 National History Day project titles:

The Oviedo Convention: A First Attempt at an International Standard for Biomedicine

The Mental, The Mad, and the Morality: Bethlem Royal Hospital and the Treatment of the 'Insane'

The Reunification of Germany

Pius vs. Napoleon: The Kidnapping of the 19th Century

Sports Diplomacy - 1980 Olympics Boycott

Building a Stronger Foundation: Establishing a National Bank in America

A Seat at the Table: African American Women's Suffrage in the 19th to 20th Century

"Failure is Impossible": The Evolution of Susan B. Anthony's Debate

The Troubles: The Treaty of Lutatius 1st Punic War

Freud: An American in Paris: Ben Franklin's Diplomacy with France and the Treaty of Paris, 1783

Deliberation during the Balkan Wars

Emeline Pankhurst and the Women's Fight for the Vote

Building 17th Century Rome: Bernini vs. Borromini

Liberty in Mussolini's Italy

More than a Me: The US Decision to Compete in Berlin

Debate over how to abolish slavery during the Civil War

Elvis Presley and the debate about his sexualized dancing and FCC regulations

The Triumph of Four Powerful Women

The Geneva Conventions: Humane Treatment in War

The Geneva Convention - Effect on Modern Day Conflict

The Treaty of Versailles: Examining Diverse Opinions of the Big Four and the Correlation 
Between the Treaty and WWII

The Catastrophe at Carthage

Diplomatic issues related to The Iran Hostage Crisis

The debate over a western territory that led to the Nigeria coup of 1965

The US debate over Philippine independence

The debate over the assumption of the war debt in the National Convention (US)

The debate over slavery in the Lincoln Douglas Debates

The debate over the Polish government's responsibility to compensate Polish Jews whose property was confiscated under Nazi occupation

Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West: A Stampede of Cultural Diplomacy to Europe, 1887-1906

Malcolm X and if he advocated violence

Diplomacy failures with Hungary after WW1

Renaissance Women: The Birth of Female Diplomacy

`The Diet of Worms: The Debate that Changed Religion

Child Labor: Opportunity or Oppression?

The debate in Nazi Germany over Jesse Owen's participation in the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Debate over Roe v. Wade

Diplomacy in the Space Race

Albania's Escape: The Struggle Within the Warsaw Pact

Pearl Harbor: The Diplomatic Turning Point Between the United States and Japan

Diplomatic issues surrounding the treaty that ended the King Philip's War

Hitler's Dress Rehearsal: German Intervention in the Spanish CIvil War

“Peace” of Our Time: The Failed Diplomacy of the Munich Agreement between Great Britain and Germany and its Role in the Inception of the Second World War
Back
An independent school for girls in grades 6-12
Inspired by the teachings of the Catholic Church