National History Day Competition at Peck

History came to life on Friday, Jan. 10, as The Peck School’s history department hosted the initial round of 2025’s National History Day (NHD) competition; a national challenge that prompts students across the country to conduct independent research and create projects tied to yearly themes.

Students in grades 6-8 showcased exhibits and websites that used research to support their thesis statement, explain their topic's historical significance, and connect their project to this year's NHD theme, "Rights & Responsibilities in History."

“The history department is proud of all students for their great work! Their projects demonstrated not only a deep understanding of their chosen topics but also impressive creativity and analytical thinking,” said Upper School History Teacher Jason Guss. “It’s inspiring to see how they connected past events to this year’s NHD theme, making history relevant and engaging for today.”

The following projects were selected to compete at the Regional Competition at Monmouth University on Saturday, March 8:

Grade 6:

• The German Bibliocaust - Sydney Wade
• Immigration Nationality Act of 1965: The Indian Experience - Anjali Sanghvi
• Terrorfliegers: Escaping Buchenwald - Marvin Xu
• Project 4.1 - Naveen Sawe and Dhilan Seth
• The Trail of Tears - Andreas Ortega and Peter Tonzola

Grade 7:

• The One Child Policy: Rights and Responsibilities in Chinese History - Aria Brooks
• Tightly Bound: A History of Footbinding in China - Hartley Orenstein
• Footbinding: Rights and Responsibilities - Norah Carifa and Kamryn Walsifer
• The My Lai Massacre: Rights & Responsibilities in War - Joseph Heck, Eric Jia, and Hudson Saphier
• Panda Diplomacy: Rights and Responsibilities in Chinese History - Hadley Bendelius and Maddie Forman
• The Polish Solidarity Movement: Rights and Responsibilities in Labor - Lorenzo Cocoziello and Aarav Shah
• Rights and Responsibilities: How the Crusades Changed History - Alex Lin and Thijs McCormick
• The Six-Day War: Six Days of Turmoil and Chaos - Arjun Wadhera and Declan Weng
• Tiananmen Square Massacre: Rights and Responsibilities in Chinese History - Layla Sakr, Gray Shields, and Eva Zarro

Grade 8:

• NAACP: Fighting for the Right of Equality - Julien Reyes
• Pretty Good Privacy: Securing the Right to Data Privacy - Bennett Schwartz
• The Stanford Prison Experiment: Rights & Responsibilities in Psychology - Giana DiPisa
• The Chinese Exclusion Act: When Responsibilities Were Dropped and Rights Removed - Bobbi Bruno and Odin Dobesh
• Go for Green: Green vs. New Kent County School Board - Logan Lan and Emily Osei
• Manifest Destiny: A Right? Or a Responsibility? - Jonah Braun, Duke Honeker, and Jake Naughton