At their July 21 meeting, the Flossmoor District 161 Board of Education formally recognized a group of Parker Junior High School students for their participation in the National History Day event.

Linda O’Dwyer, a social studies teacher at Parker Junior High, noted that the school has participated in National History Day for approximately 13 years. The program, which is almost 50 years old, sees nearly half a million students in grades six through twelve participate annually, with only about 2,000 reaching the national level.

This marks the fourth time Parker Junior High students have qualified for the national competition. O’Dwyer emphasized the dedication of this year’s qualifying group, stating their goal from the outset was to reach nationals. Their success, she explained, was primarily attributed to their teamwork.

“I’m just so excited about this group,” said O’Dwyer. “I could literally spend an hour talking about their experience and how amazing they were.”

The five-student group, consisting of Hannah Daggett, Camille Mlynarcik, Minah Bobb, Nia Davis, and Riordan Kelly, chose the performance category, which O’Dwyer described as the most challenging. Other categories include exhibits, documentaries, websites, and papers. The students’ decision to pursue performance was influenced by the school’s past success in that specific category. 

The Parker student’s project focused on the AIDS epidemic. Following evaluations from the Chicago regionals, the team revised their narrative script based on feedback, a critical step that O’Dwyer credited with their advancement to the national competition.