Harding Middle School student wins top honors at National History Day Contest

DES MOINES — A Harding Middle School student in Cedar Rapids took top honors at the National History Day Contest earlier this month at the University of Maryland.

Raegan Reicks of Harding Middle School is one of five Iowa students to medal at the contest, taking 3rd Place in Junior Individual Performance for a presentation titled “Striding Towards Justice: How the Nuremberg Trials Were a Frontier in International Law.”

After the war, Allied powers — United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union — came together to form the International Military Tribunal. From 1945 to 1946, Nazi Germany leaders stood trial for crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit any of the foregoing crimes, called the Nuremberg Trials, according to the National World War II Museum.

“Students who participate in the National History Day program not only have opportunities to conduct research at advanced levels and learn about history, they develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will serve them all their lives,” said, Susan Kloewer, administrator of the State Historical Society of Iowa. “Congratulations to all our students for their achievements, and thank you to their teachers and families for their support.”

In all, more than half a million middle and high school students around the world researched, developed and presented papers, exhibits, documentaries, websites and performances about historical topics related to an annual theme. This year’s theme was “Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas.”

Other Iowa students that took top honors in the contest were Hadley Appel, Kailin Stiles-Pena and Addison Woelfel of Bettendorf Middle School and Caleb Sinnwell of Nashua-Plainfield Junior/Senior High School.

“Iowans can be very proud of this group of students and the work they put into their projects and presentations,” said Hanna Howard, coordinator of National History Day in Iowa. “They competed against thousands of other students from around the world and represented Iowa very well.”

Sixteen more Iowa students received special recognition during this year’s program, which is coordinated in Iowa by the State Historical Society of Iowa, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.

Overall, Iowa sent 62 students from 18 different schools to the national contest this year. The 62 students emerged from a total of 498 competitors in the National History Day in Iowa state contest held earlier this year at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.