National History Day is a program that encourages students to learn about history and develop critical thinking skills. Each year, students are presented with a theme and research historical topics, analyze their findings, and present their work in a variety of formats. This year’s National History Day theme was “Rights and Responsibilities”. 

Frenship took 65 students from all four middle schools to compete at the National History Day Regional competition at the Texas Tech Cultural Center over the weekend. 

Malli Travis, Frenship ISD Social Studies Coordinator, praised the students for their dedication and hard work, highlighting the exceptional level of research they conducted for the competition. 

“We are extremely proud of these students for their accomplishments,” said Travis. “Being able to research a historical topic to the depth and complexity that these 7th graders have accomplished is a skill that most students do not achieve until they are at the college level.” 

Travis explained how some students went above and beyond in their research by seeking out personal interviews with experts related to their chosen topics. They conducted these interviews through phone calls and Zoom meetings. She emphasized the sophistication and poise the students displayed throughout this process. 

The 16 advancing students will compete during the first weekend of April at the University of Texas and the Bullock Texas State History Museum. 

Below are the Alcove Trails Middle School, Frenship Middle School, Heritage Middle School, and Terra Vista Middle School students, their projects, and place won at the regional competition.

• Mattilynn House - Women's Rights and the Seneca Falls Convention - 1st place Individual Website - FMS 
• Keelie Baker - The LDS Church Rights and Responsibilities -The Path Forward - 1st place Group Documentary - HMS 
• Kaylee Castellaw - The LDS Church Rights and Responsibilities -The Path Forward 
• 1st Place Group Website - Tiananmen Square Massacre - HMS 
  • Ming Halsey 
  • Lucy Hightower 
  • Emily Garcia  
  • Meredith Chen 
• Allison Riley - Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott: How the Montgomery Bus Boycott Changed the Civil Rights Movement - 1st Place Historical Paper - HMS 
• Peyton Evans - Holocaust: Rights and Responsibilities - 2nd Place Individual Documentary – FMS 
• 1st Place Group Performance – Joan of Arc - FMS 
  • Claire Reed 
  • Braelynn Curnutt  
  • Charlie Henry  
  • Gentri Duffield 
• Kloe Williams - Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens in New Orleans During Hurricane Katrina - 1st Place Individual Documentary - TVMS 
• 2nd Place Group Performance - Child Labor in the Great Depression - HMS 
  • Harper Sanders 
  • Mamie Rye 

Alternates 

• 3rd Place Group Documentary - A Homeland Divided: South Vietnam's Right for Freedom - TVMS 
  • Lydia Fazzina 
  • Aberella Meneses  
• 3rd Place Group Website - Rights and Responsibilities of Tiananmen Square - ATMS  
  • Tate Mosely 
  • Manoj Goriparthi 
  • James Taylor 
  • Easton Phillips