This was one heck of a year. The results are below, but I have to thank everyone. The Tucson contingent MADE this group. We've done well with the Phoenix kids before, but with the addition of a strong Tucson group, we're finally in the big time. Here it is:
SIX Arizona entries earned spots in the finals, none medalling, though two were extremely close. We’ll leave THAT for next year. Another four were in those 3rd-4th place slots in their room, meaning they, too, were close to qualifying.

Most of the team (and now we ARE a team) wants to return and they have the skills to do it. The most finalists we’ve had previously were two in 2004, so this is a major increase. Here are the finalists:

#4 Jr. Group Documentary Colorado River War John Jackson & Emma McMahon/Az Virtual Academy

#5 Sr. Historical Paper Este Es Sanctuario Emily Brodman /Xavier College Prep

#8 Jr. Historical Paper Espionage During the Revolution Austin Mitchell/Willis Jr. High Chandler

#9 Sr. Group Exhibit TR and the 1902 Coal Strike Mingda Sun & David Ganger/Basha High

#13 Jr. Historical Paper Paul Rusesabagina… Richard Cesare/Sahuarita Middle School

#14 Sr. Group Documentary Meredith (Comma) James Ryan Fruge & Shirley Nguyen/Basha High

Those are NATIONAL rankings. Pretty good, huh!?

In addition, we had three entries/students who won Special Awards. I believe we can pat ourselves on the backs for this, as it’s a validation of our special award program. These students were special award winners at the state level as well. You can see these on the national website below. Arizona was the only state to receive three special awards and two were announced back-to-back. It was a lot of fun!

http://www.nhd.org/2006winnersbystate.htm#AZ

Each of the special award winners received between $500 and $1000 and a medal equivalent to a 1st place medal, so it is a significant achievement.

The three special awards were:

Joshua Guerra of Buena High School in Sierra Vista for his Sr. Individual Documentary about the Barbary Pirates, received the United States Marine Corps Medal. Josh is a Sophomore at Buena and his teacher is Dr. Lisa Adeli.

Austin Mitchell from Willis Jr. High (now Chandler High) received the medal for the best entry about Cryptology. You might note that he also was 8th in the nation for his Jr. paper. Austin was a second year student and documented the intricacies of communication in the spy networks of the American Revolution. His teacher was Mara Heinish.

Emily Brodman from Xavier College Prep was awarded the Immigration History medal for her Sr. paper on the Sanctuary movement in Tucson during the 1980s. Emily interviewed many people involved in that movement, extremely relevant to today’s political situation. This award generally goes to east coast immigration (Ellis Island, etc.), and is highly competitive, so it is a significant accomplishment. Her teacher is Carol Hodus.

Colin Elsberry was awarded the Jamestown Award, which was a one year award given this year. It’s a one week trip to Jamestown for an outstanding student and teacher celebrating the 400 year anniversary of Jamestown. One student from each state was selected. Colin’s Jr. Individual Documentary about Paolo Soleri represented an extraordinary effort in original research which led to this award. Colin’s teacher is mom, Susan Elsberry.

The Best of State Awards, and the obnoxiously large trophies that go with that award, went to John Jackson & Emma McMahon of Arizona Virtual Academy, Tucson for the Colorado River War (Jr. Group Documentary) and Ryan Fruge and Shirley Nguyen for Meredith (Comma) James of Basha High School (Sr. Group Documentary). John & Emma’s teachers are their moms, Denice Jackson and Mary Reed; Ryan and Shirley’s teacher is Julienne Collums. We hope to present those trophies in August.

They don’t rank state programs, but if they did, we would have been about tenth, a heck of an increase from where we started a few years ago. More important, we have teachers who are now understanding it. Even more important, we have students, parents and teachers who respect each other. When our Documentary students were in the runoffs, other Arizona students were there, cheering them on. It was fantastic.

BTW, I learned afterwards that a student from Sierra Vista had found a wallet with a large amount of money in it. He spent a long time tracking down the owner to return it. That, perhaps, attests more to the character of these kids than any medals. God bless the Zonies!

Laurie