After placing first in Georgia’s National History Day competition, Jimena Molina of Sandy Creek High earned an invitation to compete at the national level where she took one of the top placements in the nation.
Molina, the only student from Fayette County to place in the national competition, took sixth place in the Senior Individual Website category at the 2019 National History Day event. Her project focused on scientist Rachel Carson and the banning of the pesticide DDT in the United States. Carson exposed the dangers of DDT in her 1962 book “Silent Spring,” which eventually lead to the banning of the chemical in 1972.
The National History Day contest actively engages students in middle and high school in the historical process. Over the course of a school year, students select a topic related to the year’s theme. They engage in a program of research, in both primary and secondary sources, designed to investigate their topic and answer specific research questions. Their results are then presented in one of five ways: as a paper, an exhibit, a performance, a documentary, or a website. All entries, regardless of category, include a written component that discusses the reasoning behind the project, the research process, and the significance of the topic to the theme. This year’s theme was “Triumph and Tragedy in History.”
In recognition of her sixth place finish, Molina will be honored by Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods and the Georgia Board of Education on July 18 during the regular monthly board meeting.
Although Molina was the only student from Fayette to finish as a finalist, six other students from Sandy Creek also earned a spot to compete at the national level of the National History Day Competition. They are Ashley Cook and Zaria Johnson, exhibits; and Ethan Toone, Jason Davis , Brian Nguyen, and Stokely Dennis, documentaries.
Sandy Creek was the only school in Fayette that had students eligible to participate in the National History Day competition that was held at the University of Maryland June 9-13. More than 3,000 students from around the world advanced to the competition.
