YOUNGSTOWN — While a select group were recognized out of the 128 middle and high school students who competed at the Region 4 Ohio History Day on Saturday, all participants were rewarded for gaining a deeper knowledge of past events in the Buckeye State, as well as 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,” said 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 more than 50 years by YSU, students from grades 6-12 worked in conjunction with the 2026 theme — “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.” In groups or individually, they illustrated that theme in their history project in one of the five categories — documentary, paper, performance, website and exhibit (cardboard trifolds). Altogether, there were 71 projects, 32 teams and 56 judges.
There are 10 regions in Ohio. Region 4 encompasses schools in Mahoning, Trumbull, Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties.
During an awards ceremony that took place in the afternoon at the Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center, winners of projects that focused on Ohio history included:
• Zachary Morgan and Jimmy Van Valien of St. Rose School in Girard received second place in the Junior Group Exhibit category for “The Wright Brothers and How Their Aeroplane Changed The World.”
• Julian Zhybak, Jackson Powell and Jossiel Martinez of St. Rose received first place in 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 received first place in the Junior Individual Website for “Northeast Ohio’s Poisoned Past.”
• Liam Sharlock of St. Rose Catholic School received first place in the Junior Individual Exhibit for “Forged in Steel: Youngstown Revolution, Reaction, Reform.” Sharlock received three awards for his project, including the History Day Research Award. He and St. Rose’s Alex Cooper won the Mahoning Valley Historical Society’s Local History Award. Cooper’s project 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 said.
“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 national contest at the University of Maryland. Students from all 50 states will participate in that event.
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