National History Day: Nebraska
2026 State Winners
JUNIORS
Junior Group Documentary
First Place
From Silence to Pride: The Gay Liberation Movement's Enduring Legacy
Annabelle Knowles, Bianka Koves, and Lizzie Skaggs-Rowser
Meadows Elementary School
Benjamin Billesbach, Teacher
Second Place
Mother Bloor and the 1934 Loup City Riot; Labor Union Revolution vs Local Reaction = Labor Reforms
Chance Ritz and Wyatt Trompke
Loup City High School
Kim Henry, Teacher
Junior Individual Documentary
First Place
The Battle Over Butter: Revolution, Reaction, and Reform in the Margarine Wars
Ashton Dearmont
Rock County High School
Clisty Taylor, Teacher
Second Place
Living the Idea of Conservation
Crawford High School
Lela Johnson
Moni Hourt, Teacher
Junior Group Exhibit
First Place
Nebraska's New Deal Post Office Murals
Matthew Clingman, Kevin Gomez, and Ty Ruhter
Ainsworth Middle School
Nichole Flynn, Teacher
Second Place
The Author Who Rewrote Himself
Amiyah DigilioWhite and Madeline Uggen
Bennington Middle School
Amy Diegel, Teacher
Junior Individual Exhibit
First Place
A Medical Revolution: The First Organ Transplant
Makenzie Jacobs
Bennington Middle School
Amy Diegel, Teacher
Second Place
Dada: A Revolution in Nonsense
Evelyn Olson
Bennington Middle School
Amy Diegel, Teacher
Junior Group Performance
First Place
Making their Mark: The Women Who Mapped the World
Valeriya Bridgeford and Payton Combes
Bennington Middle School
Amy Diegel, Teacher
Second Place
The Revolution of the Omaha Union Stockyard: Reactions and Reforms of the Cattle Industy on Omaha
Blake Day & Eric Lewandowski
Loup City High School
Kim Henry, Teacher
Junior Individual Performance
First Place
A Light Into Darkness: How Lewis Hine Exposed the Issues of Child Labor
Ezra Barnes
Exploration Academy
Aimee Barnes, Teacher
Second Place
Rheta Childe Dorr: A Born Debater
Meredith Wortmann
St. Rose of Lima School
Ginger Schieffer, Teacher
Junior Group Website
First Place
Nebraska Compulsory Education Laws
Lilliana Houghton and Harper Meyer
Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca Public Schools
Sarah Burr, Teacher
Second Place
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: Reactions Reforms During a Revolution in Baseball
Kallie Hruby & Beth Lewandowski
Loup City High School
Kim Henry, Teacher
Junior Individual Website
First Place
Ink that Changed the World: the Revolution of the Gutenberg Press
Luke Backhuus
Bennington Middle School
Amy Diegel, Teacher
Second Place
Bad Acts, Bad Paper: The Ponca Treaty and the Road to Reform
Layne Winkel
Bennington Middle School
Amy Diegel, Teacher
Junior Individual Paper
First Place
Stepping Forward, Stepping Back: Women in the Military from WWI to Today
Audrey (Audi) Rockwell
Crete Middle School
Jennifer Menagh, Teacher
Second Place
The Righteous Riots of the Stonewall Inn
Starlit Ledyard
Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca Public Schools
Sarah Burr, Teacher
SENIORS
Senior Group Documentary
First Place
Emma Goldman: An Anarchist for the Ages
Maggie Naughton and Lauren Stroupe
Mercy High School
Josh Riesberg, Teacher
Second Place
Lies, War, and Protest: How Vietnam Shattered American Trust
Anna Friendt, Marcia Perez Hernandez, and Tuan Vu
Lincoln Southeast High School
Sasha Hoxie, Teacher
Senior Individual Documentary
First Place
When the Plains Turned to Powder: Agricultural Revolution, Nature's Reaction, and the Reform that Followed
Morgan Gabel
Gabel Learning Lab
Jodi Gabel, Teacher
Second Place
Clearing the Jungle: A Revolution in Meatpacking, Reactions to Putrid Meat, and Lasting Reform in the Food Industry.
Adam Gabel
Gabel Learning Lab
Jodi Gabel, Teacher
Senior Group Exhibit
First Place
The Fire that Changed America Forever: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Hailey Baldwin and Tatum Post
Omaha Roncalli Catholic High School
Andrew Soneson, Teacher
Second Place
The Power of the Press: Media from the NAOWS and NAWSA
Kristina Gevorkova, Mattie Goettsch, and Morgan Goettsch
Lincoln Southeast High School
Sasha Hoxie and Noa Craft, Teachers
Senior Individual Exhibit
First Place
Stonewall Means Fight Back: The Night That Changed LGBTQ+ History
Adeline Lefler
Lincoln Standing Bear High School
Kyle Beacom, Teacher
Second Place
Sophie Scholl and the White Rose
Caitlyn Mustard
Omaha Roncalli Catholic High School
Andrew Soneson, Teacher
Senior Group Performance
First Place
A New Hope: How the New Deal Reformed America's Wealth Distribution
Eliza Capp, Hazel Capp, Ben Gerdes, and Reese Tompkins
Ashland-Greenwood High School
Daniel Berkhout, Teacher
Second Place
Radium Girls: The Revolution, Reactions and Reforms of Industrial Safety Standards
Grace Augustyn, Kaily Kurtzhals, Tayler Obermiller, and Morgan Rademacher
Loup City High School
Kim Henry, Teacher
Senior Individual Performance
First Place
Windmills, War, and Willpower: The Making of a Black Nebraska Settlement
Gideon Terwilleger
Lincoln Southeast High School
Noa Craft, Teacher
Second Place
120 Years in The Jungle: Revolution, Reaction, and Reform in America's Meatpacking Industry
Tripp Taylor
Taylor Learning Center
Tim Taylor, Teacher
Senior Group Website
First Place
Apollo 11: Pioneering Scientific Discoveries and Cold War Space Rivalry
Rogan Buresh, Sam Cooper, and Aidan Garito
Lincoln Standing Bear High School
Kyle Beacom, Teacher
Second Place
Harlem Hellfighters: The Revolution, Reaction Reform of Military Segregation of WWI
Braxton Gallaway and Hudson Obermiller
Loup City High School
Kim Henry, Teacher
Senior Individual Website
First Place
Hedy Lamarr and the Revolution of Frequency Hopping: Delayed Reactions to Communication Reforms
Dalton Stanczyk
Loup City High School
Kim Henry, Teacher
Second Place
The Creation of MindFreedom International
Gracelyn Knapp
Madison High School
Robert Fite, Teacher
Senior Individual Paper
First Place
Unsung Heroes: How Chinese Railroad Workers Redefined Western Expansion and the Fight for Fair Labor
Estella Henderson
Lincoln Standing Bear High School
Kyle Beacom, Teacher
Second Place
McCarthyism, a Time of Fear and Hysteria: How One Man from Wisconsin Shaped Politics as We Know It
Calvin Koch
Lincoln Standing Bear High School
Kyle Beacom, Teacher
SPECIAL PRIZES
NEBRASKALand Foundation
Junior Division
First Place
Group Exhibit: Nebraska’s New Deal Post Office Murals
Matthew Clingman, Kevin Gomez, and Ty Ruhter
Ainsworth Middle School
Nichole Flynn, Teacher
Honorable Mentions
Individual Website: Bad Acts, Bad Paper: The Ponca Treaty and the Road to Reform
Layne Winkel
Bennington Middle School
Amy Diegel, Teacher
Individual Exhibit: Trial and Trail of Tears
Lauren Beccard
Lourdes Central Catholic School
Beth Box, Teacher
Senior Division
First Place
Individual Performance: Windmills, War, and Willpower: The Making of a Black Nebraska Settlers
Gideon Terwilleger
Lincoln Southeast High School
Noa Craft, Teacher
Honorable Mentions
Group Exhibit: "I am a man": Standing Bears efforts
Hazel Clements and Addi Costello
Omaha Roncalli Catholic High School
Andrew Soneson, Teacher
Individual Documentary: Higgins Took Us In
Teague Edelman
Crawford High School
Moni Hourt, Teacher
Group Exhibit: The Trail of Chief Standing Bear
Malia McCreight and Kamryn Wanser
Lincoln Standing Bear High School
Kyle Beacom, Teacher
Individual Exhibit: Richard Hart
Preston Krause
Burwell Public Schools
Melissa Konicek, Teacher
Behring Teacher of the Year Award
Amy Diegel
Bennington Middle School
Noa Craft
Lincoln Southeast High School