BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Eight local students from Fruitvale Junior High School and Centennial High School proved they were at the head of the class when it comes to history.

They are first-place winners from the state History Day competition that saw more than 1,000 students compete in Sacramento.

The theme this year was "Conflict and Compromise in History." Students from Kern County won in four categories and will represent California at National History Day from June 15-19 at the University of Maryland.

One of the national qualifiers is student Gabriela Forter. She is the daughter of former Bakersfield Californian reporter, Scott Forter. Her performance entry, "A Negotiator for Change," was Kern County farm workers in the 1960s and 1970s. Interviews for her project included notables from the United Farm Workers movement such as Paul Chavez, Art Rodriguez and Dolores Huerta.

“Can you imagine her (Gabriela) eating lunch for about 2 hours with Dolores Huerta?” said John Hefner, who runs the Fruitvale School History Day program. He said that Huerta enjoyed examining Forter's final project.

Former Bakersfield College History Professor Jack Brigham assisted Forter by connecting her to UFW officials from both the past and present.

Brigham praised the efforts of those involved. "These are Fruitvale Junior High students who have additional coaches, advisors, and parents who also provide valuable input, support, and guidance," Brigham said.

He also said John Hefner "has been the inspirational key to the Fruitvale History Day program for approximately three decades and continues to lead following his May retirement as the school principal."

According to a Kern County Superintendent of Schools press release, Sarah Moore, a student at Centennial High School, is the only high school student from Kern County to qualify. Her documentary, “The Conflict of Nazis in Skokie: A Question of Compromise,” won at both the county and state level.

Anastasia Clegg won with her historical paper, “Conflicts, Compromise and Independence: The 1947 Partitioning of India.”

Another student project which won was the Fruitvale group project, “Four Innocent Girls: Victims of Hate: Casualties of Ignorance; A Tragic Incident that Would Affect Civil Rights in the U.S. Forever,” which examined the 1963 church bombing in Alabama, which killed four girls. "I’ve had about 15 groups over the years, this is one of the most powerful," Hefner said. “They play the role of the Birmingham bombing so well.”

That group included Fruitvale students Dylan Gonzales, Aaliyah Beed, Josh Gonzales, Brock Lynch and Alyssa Shannon.

“It is probably a life-altering experience for these kids," Hefner said about all the various history projects, including documentaries that the students create. He said the group project students spoke with a former white supremist who rallied whites during the bombing. Hefner said the man, now a preacher, had tears in his eyes after watching the students perform and even apologized to the kids for how he treated people during the Birmingham bombing.

Hefner said the students interviewed the parents of a child who died in the Birmingham bombing. She told personal stories that identified what he called the insensitivity of racism. "All of these stories unlock a sense of awareness of what went on 40 years ago," Hefner said.