Correspondent photograph / John Patrick Gatta
Hubbard High School seniors Jon Miller, left, and Luke Wack talk about their exhibit, “I Sustain the Wings,” Saturday morning in the course of the Region 4 Ohio History Day on the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry & Labor. They gained third place within the Senior Group Exhibit class.
YOUNGSTOWN — While a choose group had been acknowledged out of the 128 center and highschool students who competed on the Region 4 Ohio History Day on Saturday, all individuals had been rewarded for gaining a deeper information of previous occasions within the Buckeye State, in addition to the United States.
“For students it’s an opportunity to learn historical methodology, to interpret sources and learn what a historian does for a living and why it’s important,” stated Youngstown State University professor David Simonelli, Region 4 Ohio History Day coordinator. “For educators and teachers, it’s a great opportunity to bask in the talents and excitement of another generation of kids who have the same value for history that they do.”
Hosted for greater than 50 years by YSU, students from grades 6-12 labored at the side of the 2026 theme — “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.” In teams or individually, they illustrated that theme of their history challenge in a single of the 5 classes — documentary, paper, efficiency, web site and exhibit (cardboard trifolds). Altogether, there have been 71 tasks, 32 groups and 56 judges.
There are 10 areas in Ohio. Region 4 encompasses faculties in Mahoning, Trumbull, Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties.
During an awards ceremony that passed off within the afternoon on the Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center, winners of tasks that centered on Ohio history included:
• Zachary Morgan and Jimmy Van Valien of St. Rose School in Girard obtained second place within the Junior Group Exhibit class for “The Wright Brothers and How Their Aeroplane Changed The World.”
• Julian Zhybak, Jackson Powell and Jossiel Martinez of St. Rose obtained first place within the Junior Group Website for “How the Ku Klux Klan’s Presence and Actions in the 1960s Created Fear and Hatred, and How That Fear and Hatred Motivated People to Stand Up Against Racism.”
• Nick Velotta of Notre Dame Elementary School in Chardon obtained first place within the Junior Individual Website for “Northeast Ohio’s Poisoned Past.”
• Liam Sharlock of St. Rose Catholic School obtained first place within the Junior Individual Exhibit for “Forged in Steel: Youngstown Revolution, Reaction, Reform.” Sharlock obtained three awards for his challenge, together with the History Day Research Award. He and St. Rose’s Alex Cooper gained the Mahoning Valley Historical Society’s Local History Award. Cooper’s challenge was “Grit, Glory, and Giving Back.”
“Kids are always encouraged to study local history because it’s a great way of getting primary sources to use in assembling their projects; that’s part of why the MVHS offers its award, and other local museums always promote the contest too, especially the Steel Museum, to encourage kids to study in their archives,” Simonelli stated.
“It’s a chance to take pride in kids learning about the community they live in when they do a local history subject, and to promote how their schools foster excitement for academic subjects that will benefit the community when they grow into adults.”
Winners from Region 4 advance to the 2026 state contest at Capital University in Columbus. Those winners make it to the 2026 nationwide contest on the University of Maryland. Students from all 50 states will take part in that occasion.
How they fared
Local winners of the Region 4 Ohio History Day competitors:
• Junior Group Documentary — Anna Ulicney, Bynn Biddlestone and Ian McKenna of St. Rose School in Girard, first place for “The New Deal,” and Jaidyn Woods, Madison Gonzalez and Allison Sandor of St. Rose, second place for “Title IX: Equal Access, Equal Opportunity.”
• Senior Group Documentary — Samuel Manning, Giorgio Restaino, Rex Papa and Owen Olmi of Ursuline High School, first place for “The Easter Rising: A Failed Revolution Leads to a Long-Term Victory.”
• Junior Group Exhibit — Dan Reardon, Grace Reardon and Lucy Reardon of St. Rose, first place for “Backhanding Barriers: How Althea Gibson Broke the Color Barrier”; Zachary Morgan and Jimmy Van Valien of St. Rose School, second place for “The Wright Brothers and How Their Aeroplane Changed The World”; and Lillian Dambrogio, Mallory Berlon and Myka Wilson of Holy Family School in Poland for “Emmett Till: The Spark to the Civil Rights Movement.” St. Rose additionally obtained two Honorable Mentions within the class for tasks on Pearl Harbor and The Great Depression.
• Senior Group Exhibit — Ella Hermensky, Esmee Femia-Smith and Isabella Ross of Hubbard High School, second place for “The Festival that Reformed the Music Industry: The Lilith Fair”; and Luke Wack and Jon Miller of Hubbard High School, third place for “I Sustain the Wings.” The first place winners had been from Hawken Upper School.
• Junior Group Website — Julian Zhybak, Jackson Powell and Jossiel Martinez of St. Rose, first place for “How the Ku Klux Klan’s Presence and Actions in the 1960s Created Fear and Hatred, and How That Fear and Hatred Motivated People to Stand Up Against Racism”; and Thomas Van Valien, Tanner Payich and Roman Budrovici of St. Rose, second place for “Theodore Roosevelt: The Progressive Era.” The first place winners had been from Hawken Upper School.
• Junior Individual Exhibit — Liam Sharlock of St. Rose, first place for “Forged in Steel: Youngstown Revolution, Reaction, Reform.”
• Senior Individual Exhibit — Lillian Atkinson of Hubbard High School, first place for “Under Investigation…. Josephine Baker”; and Emma Toppetta of Hubbard High School, second place for “Cabaret: Politics in Art.”
• Senior Individual Performance — Liesse Ihirwe of Ursuline, first place for “Ndabaga’s Story.”
• Senior Individual Website — Annika Curnalia of Hubbard High School, third place for “The Flapper Girls.” The first and second place winners had been from Hawken Upper School.
• Junior Papers — Charlie Sandy of St. Rose, second place for “Music: The Voice of Revolution”; and Beniamino Perotta of Holy Family School, third place for “The Industrial Revolution as a Social Revolution.” The first place winner was from Notre Dame Elementary School.
Source: Ohio History Connection
