Johnston Schools Successful at State History Day

(submitted by Kathy Paul)

Johnston students had a very successful State History Day on May 8, and were represented by 40 outstanding students whose entries represented months of historical research, Students in grades 7 through 11 were able to showcase their projects for a panel of judges as well as other interested students and adults.

Students who competed were from Summit: Lily Henderson, Maggie Miner, Anita Dinakar, Gabi Michalski, Elise Henrichsen, Ellie Lashier, Jenna Woodsmall. Those from JMS were: Kyle Lastine, Ryan Freidhoff, Nathan Waters, Matthew Ding, Will Morlock, Jackie Liang, Makenna Gregurek, Ramayana Kazazic, Gordon Hu, Sarah Andreasen, Vivian Chen, Karshana Kalyanaraman, Julia Chen, Jill James, Megan O’Brien, Camille Furer, James Grimm, Akshaya Kumar, Taylor Siebert, Joanne Wu and Shreya Shrestha. Johnston High School competitors were: Allie Tubbs, Meredith McDonald Gwynna Miner, Natalie Voss, Isla Chowanec, Obsee Abbajabal, Marianne Aldrich, Angela Cai, Lauren Fergus, Parul Srivastava, Amanda Roberts, and Maddie Gregurek.

At the awards ceremony, eighth graders Karshana Kalyanaraman, Vivian Chen and Julian Chen emerged as finalists in their categories.  In addition, ninth graders, Matthew Ding and Will Morlock won a special award for exceptional historical research; Joanne Wu and Shreya Shrestha are alternates to the national contest; and qualifying for nationals are Jackie Liang, Makenna Gregurek, and Akshaya Kumar. Sophomore Allie Tubbs qualified for the national contest with her performance; juniors Meredith McDonald Gwynna Miner, Natalie Voss, Isla Chowanec for their exhibit; and sophomores Obsee Abbajabal, Marianne Aldrich, Angela Cai, Lauren Fergus, Parul Srivastava for their website.

Students are coached by Colleen Ites, Kathy Paul and Sue Cline. Congratulations!