Irvine Schools Win Big at the National History Day 2023 Contest

After months of intensive research and success at district, county, and state-level competitions, Irvine school teams earned top honors at the National History Day 2023 contest held at the University of Maryland, College Park Campus in the Washington, D.C. area earlier this month.

Each fall, more than 600,000 students nationwide begin the year-long National History Day program, which is a challenging and fun event that encourages students to become historians by developing research, analytical, presentation, and social skills. Working individually or in groups, students compete in the Junior Division (grades 6-8) or Senior Division (grades 9-12).

Here are some of this year’s winners from Irvine:

Junior Individual Website (Second Place Medal)
Jacob Dinh from Venado Middle School.
Teachers: Hector Gamboa & John Beckman

Senior Group Website (Second Place Medal)
Rachel Kim & Bernice Hung from Portola High School.
Teacher: Wind Ralston

Senior Group Documentary (Third Place Medal)
Ritieka Kumar & Moksha Kolli from Northwood High School
Teacher: Deanna Myers

Junior Individual Website (Fourth Place)
Frankie Holland from Irvine Virtual Academy Middle School
Teacher: Sandra Komara

Junior Group Website (Fifth Place)
Zixuan Cui, Yongjing Li & Isabelle Yang from Sierra Vista Middle School
Teachers: Jonathan Millers & Lianne Linck

Senior Group Exhibit (Fifth Place)
Kayla Fu, Sol Kwak, Philip Park & Sean Yu from Northwood High School
Teacher: Deanna Myers