BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Today National History Day Competition champions were recognized at the 2020 California History Day Virtual State Contest.

Sixty-two students will represent California at the virtual competition, June 14-18, four of whom are Kern County Students.

Matthew Fan and Thomas Wilson from Fruitvale Junior High placed first in the Junior Group Documentary category with their project titled “Leo B. Hart and the Children of the Dustbowl: Breaking Educational and Social Barriers."

Evan Noel and Madeline Mykytiuk from Endeavour Elementary School placed first in the Elementary Group Poster category with their project titled “With No Hope in Sight: Operation Seasweep - Breaking Barriers for Vietnam's Boat People.”

History Day students engage in project-based learning as they choose their own topics of study connected to an annual theme and then engage in public history at competitions.

This year’s theme is Breaking Barriers in History.

Students research historic documents and artifacts, conduct oral histories, search the Internet and libraries for information on their topic and travel to historic sites.

Visit https://www.nhdca.org/statecontest for more information.