Students qualify for history contest

Dripping Springs ISD students Grant and Nora Gillum each captured regional titles at the Cen-Tex Regional History Day Fair on Saturday, Feb. 17 at Del Valle High School to qualify for the Texas History Day State Contest.

Sophomore Grant Gillum, a reigning three-time state champion and 2023 second-place national finisher, won the Senior Division Individual Website category for his project, “Fueling Victory: How the Inch Pipelines Became a Turning Point in World War II”. Gillum’s faculty sponsor is long-time National History Day teacher Kibbie Jensen.

Nora Gillum, a sixth grader at Dripping Springs Middle School, took top honors in the Junior Division Individual Website category with her website, “Poisoned Pills: How the 1982 Tylenol Scare Was a Turning Point in Consumer Safety”. Her faculty sponsor is Kristen Miller.

The National History Day contest encourages more than 300,000 students nationwide to conduct historical research on a topic of their choice. Each year, a theme is chosen for broad application to world, national, or state history and its relevance to ancient history or to the more recent past. To celebrate the 50th anniversary, NHD’s 2024 theme is “Turning Points in History.”

The Texas History Day State Contest will be held Saturday, April 20 at the University of Texas at Austin. For more about the competition, visit texashistoryday. com.