From left, Jason Benyousky, Keller Bailey and Geoffrey Hochstetler receive their special prize courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society.

WARSAW — The Indiana Historical Society proudly announced four students from Edgewood Middle School and five students from Lakeview Middle School took top honors at the 2018 National History Day in Indiana state contest, Saturday, April 14, at Ivy Tech’s campus in downtown Indianapolis.

In the Junior Group Exhibit category, Kaylee Ochoa and Rachel Doyle of Lakeview Middle School took first place with their project on Eleanor Roosevelt, while fellow Lakeview Middle School students Elena Sullivan, Abby Rahn and Hannah Shapiro won second place with their project, “Hamilton’s Plan.”

In the Junior Group Performance category, Edgewood Middle School students Keller Bailey, Jason Benyousky, Ryun Hoffert and Geoffrey Hochstetler won first place with their project, “The Conflicts and Compromises of Writer and Civil War Soldier Ambrose Bierce.”

All nine of the local students qualified for the National Contest for National History Day, June 9-15, at the University of Maryland’s campus in College Park, Md.  At least 3,000 students are expected to compete from across the country and from international schools around the world.

In addition, the state contest featured 15 special prizes, awarded for Indiana history topics. Edgewood students Bailey, Benyousky, Hoffert and Hochstetler received the $250 Indiana Local History Prize, sponsored by IHS’s Heritage Support Grant program.

NHDI is a yearlong program, organized in Indiana by the Indiana Historical Society. It is dedicated to enhancing history education in schools across the state. Each year, students in grades four through 12 explore a historical subject and then use their research to create a documentary, exhibit, paper, performance or website.