Fruitvale takes National History Day title
| Thursday, Jun 18 2009 11:32 AM
Last Updated Thursday, Jun 18 2009 01:05 PM
A dream came true for 13-year-old Bianca Hinojosa of Bakersfield Thursday when her National History Day group won first place out of 72 others from across the country.
"My heart just dropped and I was shaking so badly and my mouth just dropped open," Hinojosa said. "I was really happy and emotional."
Fruitvale Jr. High's Hinojosa, Marissa Manos, Ramie Sahota, Calvin Laverty and Sameen Bramerwere awarded first place medals and $1,000 to divide at the National History Day awards ceremony Thursday at the University of Maryland.
Their project and presentation was on Sylvia Mendez, a Mexican-American Orange County resident whose parents fought for desegregation of schools. The landmark California Supreme Court case Mendez vs. Westminister ended segregation in California and paved the way for the more well-known case Brown vs. Board of Education.
The group represented Kern County and California as one of the two groups from California that made it to nationals. Fruitvale also won at nationals in 2006.
Centennial High School's Sarah Moore received third place in the Senior Individual Documentary category.
Jennifer Mykytiuk, Fruitvale Jr. High School teacher and History Day coach, traveled with the students and said the group's topic and dedication set them apart from the other participants. The group started researching its topic in October.
Laverty, 13, said researching and working on the project was a long process. The group met at least twice a week for two hours after school to work. They had a 25-page bibliography. Laverty said the group's research is what got them the award.
They had the opportunity to interview Sylvia Mendez, first through e-mail, then in person at her home in Santa Ana. The group also performed for her at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
"it was really emotional for us to perform for her," Lavarty said. "It was amazing to us we were standing with a piece of history."
Just making it to the national competition was an honor for the students.
Manos, 14, was shocked when she found out they won.
"It is so amazing that we made it to nationals -- even if we didn't place we had come so far," Manos said. "To know we are first in the United States, it's still not even registering in my head."
