Marquette Freshman Wins State National History Day Contest, Advances to Nationals

May 19, 2023

A Rockwood student smiles with his state National History Day certificate. For the fourth year in a row, Rohan Deshpande will represent Missouri at the National History Day (NHD) competition.

Deshpande, a freshman at Marquette High, won first place at the National History Day in Missouri contest in the Senior Individual Documentary category, advancing to the national competition to be held the week of June 10 in Baltimore, Maryland.

He also represented Missouri each of the three prior years, when he was a Crestview Middle student. Deshpande's project this year, "Economic Redevelopment over Community Preservation: The Frontier of Urban Renewal that Transformed our Cities," earned first place at the state competition in Columbia on April 22. He also won a local history special prize for his work.

NHD challenges students to complete a research project on an annual theme. This year's theme is "Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas."

At an NHD contest, students present their work to judges, who give all students feedback on their work and select projects to advance to the next level of the competition. Between contest levels, students are encouraged to revise their project based on what they have learned and the judges’ feedback.

The top two entries in each category at the state level are invited to attend the NHD National Contest, which includes around 3,000 students from across the United States and overseas.

A team of Crestview seventh-graders -- Anish Munje, Ishaan Palanati and Vihaan Punjabi -- also qualified for the state competition with their Junior Group Documentary, "Frontiers in Education: Desegregation in St. Louis Catholic Schools," and placed in the top six in the state.

Congratulations to all of these students and their teacher, Crestview Academic Stretch teacher Megan Burian!

Three Rockwood students smile at the state National History Day competition. A Rockwood student wears his National History Day medal and holds his certificate with his teacher at the state competition.