Belle Vernon Area School District’s 24 winners at the National History Day regional competition in Pittsburgh represents the highest number of winners in the district’s eight-year participation.

“We almost doubled the number of students going on to states (competition),” said Ross Farmer, middle school social studies teacher.

Another first this year was student participation in all five categories — performance, website, documentary, exhibit and research paper, said Farmer, project sponsor.

This year’s theme is Leadership and Legacy in History.

“We have had students make it to state and national competitions the last five years. Actually, this is the sixth year that we have had students make states. I can’t comment on nationals just yet, but I am hopeful,” he said.

Farmer teaches one class designated as National History Day, but the competition is open to all students in eighth through 12th grades.

Students begin working on their projects in August.

“There were better projects and more projects. We had some really dedicated students,” Farmer said.

A $750 grant from the Consortium for Public Education helped, Farmer said, with the purchase of materials, from books to flip cams.

“Those materials stay within the district so anyone can use them again,” Farmer said.

Students who placed at the March 14 and 15 regional competition, held at the Senator John Heinz History Center, will go on to the state competition at Millersville University in May.

Anastasia Woosley, 13, Sara Ann Buza, 14, and Brooke Dickey, 13, took second place, junior group exhibit, “The Evolution of the Spy Game: The Legacy of the Culper Ring in the American Revolution.”

Their submission involved four months of research, including email interviews with experts, Woosley said, on a “secret spy ring no one knew about.”

“They had a code book. George Washington was 711,” she said.

“They even used invisible ink,” Buza said.

Actual missions were hidden in between more mundane messages, they said.

The three made timelines leading up to present day Russian spy Anna Chapman, and found a computer parchment program to digitally scan replicas of Culper Ring letters.

Dickey painted the background for their exhibit.

“We thought the judges would have more interest in them,” she said of the topic choice.

Jordan French, 14, took first place for her junior research paper, “The Life and Legacy of Andrew ‘Rube’ Foster: Baseball’s Forgotten Legend.”

Foster, who helped to establish the Negro National League, left a legacy with Major League Baseball players like Jackie Robinson and Andrew McCutchen.

“If it wasn’t for him, we don’t know how long it would take for (African-Americans) to play (professional) baseball,” said French, who plays on her school’s softball team.

Baylee Martin’s “An Angel Comes to Johnstown: Clara Barton and the Flood Relief Effort of 1889,” won second place, junior individual documentary.

“I knew she created the American Red Cross, but I didn’t know a lot about it. Her legacy is she left behind the Red Cross, which is still working today,” said Martin, 13.

As part of her research, Martin filmed an interview with Kaytlin Sumner, curator at the Johnstown Area Heritage Association.

Additional middle school winners were:

• Ben Filak, third place, junior documentary, “The Devil is in the Details: The Life and Afterlife of Robert Johnson.”

• Kiara Mattern, Mallie Nalevanko, and Lindsay Steeber, first place, junior group documentary, “The Making of the Man: Braddock’s Campaign and the Coming of Age of George Washington.”

• Josh Hoffman and Jaxon Marzec, second place, junior group performance, “The Lasting Legacy of Lewis and Clark: The Ethnography of the Trans-Mississippi Native Americans.”

• Taylor Lazzari, first place, junior individual documentary, “Casting a Long Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Andrew ‘Rube’ Foster.”

• Kaitlyn Schultz and Dionne Ruozzi, second place, junior group documentary, “Baseball’s Forgotten Leader: The Lasting Legacy of Andrew ‘Rube’ Foster.”

• Evan Butchki, Evan Cooney, Oliver Herczeg, and Justin Young, third place, junior group documentary, “The Lasting Legacies of the National Road: The Road that Built America.”

• Jessica McClintock, third place, junior individual exhibit, “Barney Dreyfuss: The Personification of the American Dream;” winner of the Albert Goldsmith local history award.

• Joe Myers, third place, junior individual website, “The Saint of Auschwitz: A Death that Gave Life and a Life that Gave Hope.”

Belle Vernon Area High School winners were:

• Jacob Davis, first place, senior individual documentary, “What’s for Dinner Hun? Attila Wants Italian.”

• Jessica Moody and Tim Hudak, first place, senior group documentary, “Murder in the Black Valley: The Martyrdom and Legacy of Fannie Sellins.”

• Hannah Samoda, second place, senior research paper, “John Hall: The Father of Interchangeable Parts and the American System of Manufacturing.”

Mary Pickels is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.

She can be reached at 724-836-5401 or mpickels@tribweb.com.

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