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News & Announcements&苍产蝉辫;禄&苍产蝉辫;Middle and high school students explore barrier-breaking moments in Guam鈥檚 history for MARC competition

Middle and high school students explore barrier-breaking moments in Guam鈥檚 history for MARC competition

Middle and high school students explore barrier-breaking moments in Guam鈥檚 history for MARC competition

Middle and high school students explore barrier-breaking moments in Guam鈥檚 history for MARC competition


6/30/2020

Students explore barrier-breaking moments in Guam鈥檚 history in UOG competition

Guam History Day 2020 logo
Guam History Day 2020 logo

A total of 80 middle and high school student research projects explored barrier-breaking people and events in Guam鈥檚 history for this year鈥檚 Guam History Day competition, which took place from May 15 to June 9, 2020. Sixteen projects took first-place prizes.

Hosted by the 91快播 Micronesian Area Research Center, the Guam History Day competition is a year-long historical research program that challenges students to develop their perspectives of Guam鈥檚 history.

鈥淭he students who competed not only interpreted the theme in dynamic ways, they also rose to the challenge of shifting from a traditional competition to a virtual one,鈥� said Guam State Coordinator LaVonne Guerrero-Meno.

The competition was held virtually for the first time due to the pandemic. Adhering to the theme 鈥淏reaking Barriers in Guam鈥檚 History,鈥� students electronically presented their research in the form of a research paper, documentary, exhibit, performance, or website.

The projects were judged by a panel of 35 community judges 鈥� including teachers, UOG faculty, business professionals, and representatives from Guampedia and Guam Preservation Trust 鈥� on historic quality and accuracy, adherence to the theme, and project guidelines.

鈥淢ARC appreciates the community-wide effort it took to host this year鈥檚 competition,鈥� Guerrero-Meno said.

While the students with the highest scoring projects typically go to the University of Maryland in Washington, D.C., to represent Guam at the National History Day competition, this year鈥檚 first-place winners instead received laptops and iPads courtesy of Takagi and Associates Inc., South Pacific Petroleum Corp., GTA, Guam Preservation Trust, and UOG鈥檚 College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

鈥淲hile the island was concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic, UOG MARC was focused on getting this competition underway and giving the students their deserved recognition, which is truly an awesome thing they did,鈥� said Mary Williams, teacher and coordinator at Andersen Middle School.

Group photo
St. John鈥檚 School senior Vicente Taijeron, right, and freshman Alexander Gayle pose with now Public Auditor Benjamin J.F. Cruz. The students won first place in the documentary group division of the Guam History Day competition held in May 2020 for their documentary, 鈥淏reaking Barriers: How Benjamin J. Cruz Became the First Openly Gay Supreme Court Justice in America.鈥�

Guam History Day 2020 Winners

Category

High School

Middle School

Research Paper
  • 1st: 鈥淏reaking Cultural and Linguistic Barriers: Clotilde Ding Castro Gould, 1930-2002鈥� by Kasey Xu, St. John鈥檚 School
  • 2nd: Jenny Mann, St. John鈥檚 School
  • 3rd: Seyoung Choung, St. John鈥檚 School
  • 1st: 鈥淔ather Due帽as: The Martyr for God and for Guam鈥� by Kaile Adame, Untalan Middle School

Documentary, Individual
  • 1st: 鈥淎gueda Iglesias Johnston: A Chamorro Woman of Breaking Barriers鈥� by Enqi Yang, Harvest Christian Academy
  • 2nd: Jennifer Napalan, Guam High School
  • 3rd: Timothy Hutapea, St. John鈥檚 School
  • 1st: 鈥淭he Battle of Guam鈥� by Jay Whitman, Andersen Middle School
  • 2nd: Emily Burgess, Andersen Middle School

Documentary, Group
  • 1st: 鈥淏reaking Barriers: How Benjamin J. Cruz Became the First Openly Gay Supreme Court Justice in America鈥� by Andrew Gayle and Vicente Taijeron, St. John鈥檚 School
  

Exhibit, Individual
  • 1st: 鈥淭he Revitalization of CHamoru: From the 鈥楴o CHamoru Rule鈥� to the Use of CHamoru Textbooks in Schools鈥� by Isabella Peng, St. John鈥檚 School
  • 2nd: Ave Petra, St. John鈥檚 School
  • 3rd: Seungho Kang, St. John鈥檚 School
  • 1st: 鈥淭he Good Medicine Man: Dr. Roman Manalisay Sablan鈥� by Erica Conde, Untalan Middle School
  • 2nd: Alyssa Calilung, Untalan Middle School
  • 3rd: Isabel Conklin, Andersen Middle School

Exhibit, Group
  • 1st: 鈥淕uam Demands for U.S. Assistance鈥� by Kristina Kim and Ashley Yang, St. John鈥檚 School
  • 2nd: EoJin Kim and Elijah Lizama, Father Due帽as Memorial School
  • 3rd: Ritisha Raj Kumar and Darua Ounadi, St. John鈥檚 School
  • 1st: 鈥淕ov. Joseph Flores: Breaking Ground for Local Leadership鈥� by Jayalin Napalan and Anabelle Mansanao, Untalan Middle School
  • 2nd: Leila Franquez and Ariel Untalan, Andersen Middle School
  • 3rd: Destiny Tumbucon and Iris Gueco, Dominican Catholic School

Performance, Individual
  • 1st: 鈥淛osef Martinez Ada: Breaking Barriers with a Bar of Soap鈥� by Olivia Wen, St. John鈥檚 School
  

Performance, Group
  • 1st: 鈥淎ntonio B. Won Pat: Guam鈥檚 Ticket to Prosperity鈥� by Kiran Toh and Connor Cruz, Father Due帽as Memorial School
  • 1st: 鈥淭he First Lady of Guam鈥� by Neichen Yerten and Michiko Sichiro, Untalan Middle School
  • 2nd: Aaleyah Masga and Maki Sasao, Untalan Middle School

Website, Individual
  • 1st: 鈥淔rancisco Baza Leon Guerrero: Breaking the Barriers of Neglect鈥� by Mark Wang, St. John鈥檚 School
  • 2nd: Jacob Tang, Father Due帽as Memorial School
  • 3rd: Rory Respicio, Father Due帽as Memorial School
  • 1st: 鈥淭he Guam Congress Walkout: Breaking the Shackles for a Better Tomorrow鈥� by Kayana Pangelinan, Untalan Middle School
  • 2nd: Kelvin Lee, St. John鈥檚 School
  • 3rd: Nichelle Torcelino, Dominican Catholic School

Website, Group
  • 1st: 鈥淭owards Democracy: Carlos Camacho 鈥� the First Elected Governor of Guam鈥� by Gabriel Leon Guerrero and Ryan Balatbat, Father Due帽as Memorial School
  • 2nd: Alton Borja and Edward Guintu, Father Due帽as Memorial School
  • 3rd: Isaiah Alvendia and Jonah Paulino, Father Due帽as Memorial School
  • 1st: 鈥淐ynthia Johnston Torres: Breaking Barriers for Inclusion鈥� by Lorrenne Pennington and Katelyn Cura, Untalan Middle School
  • 2nd: Issa Cosca and Heavenly Santos, Untalan Middle School