Brian Songco from Father Duenas Memorial School presents his research paper to judges. 

Twelve students from Guam middle and high schools have qualified to present their projects on Guam history at the National History Day contest this June in Washington, D.C. The students were winners of the Guam History Day competition on March 23 held by the University of Guam Micronesian Area Research Center and the Guam Preservation Trust.  

“The kids compete annually for the opportunity to represent Guam at the National History Day competition in Washington, D.C.,” said Guam State Coordinator LaVonne Guerrero-Meno. “There are about 23,000 kids, and we’re talking about students from every state, territory, and some international schools all competing at this competition.”

Guam History Day is a yearlong historical research program geared toward middle school and high school students to develop their perspectives of Guam’s history.

This year 26 students from nine middle and high schools in Guam received awards for their projects pertaining to the theme “Triumph and Tragedy in Guam’s History,” and 12 students’ scores were high enough to qualify them to compete in the national competition. View the list of winners here.

Their projects were submitted in the form of documentaries, performances, exhibits, research papers, and websites and are judged based on historic quality and accuracy, adherence to the theme, and project guidelines.

“The projects I’ve seen have been creative and the students were determined,” said Guerrero-Meno, who has been involved with Guam History Day since 2011.

She noticed that in previous years, a large portion of the students’ research was dependent on the internet.

“This year, I was so proud to see that Andersen Middle School, SIFA Learning Academy, Untalan Middle School, Father Duenas, and St. John’s all had field trips into the MARC,” she said.