2025 National Contest Qualifiers
Junior Group Documentary
Students: Bodi and Gabe Elliott
Project Title: Drawing Change: Charles Schultz, Franklin, and Responsibility in the Fight
for Civil Rights
School: Bishop Flaget Middle/High School
Teacher: Dana Wiseman
Students: Danah Jang and Tzurielle Parrino
Project Title: A Responsible Patriot: John Adams and the Rights of Redcoats
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Group Documentary
Students: Joshua Chen, Joshua Gordon and Joshua Thomas
Project Title: The Capitol Crawl: Fighting for Disability Rights One Step at a Time
School: St. Ignatius High School
Teacher: Joe Ptak
Students: Tommy Harkelroad and Will Ferenczy
Project Title: The World's Champion: How Muhammad Ali’s Views on War and Equality Impacted the World
School: Huron High School
Teacher: John Harkelroad
Junior Group Exhibit
Students: Ingrid Hegley and Ziva Botkin
Project Title: The Anthem that Inspired the World
School: Dominion Middle School
Teacher: Lauren Noble
Students: Jerry Jiang and Samuel Chen
Project Title: Bigotry at the Beach: Unequal Rights and Denied Responsibilities of the Euclid Beach Park Riots
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Group Exhibit
Students: Olivia Panciu and Sophia Panciu
Project Title: The Right to Vote: How the 19th Amendment Transformed Democracy
School: Independent Entry
Students: Bridget Barragate, Demi Burke, Ellie White and Zoeya Chowdhry
Project Title: Plyler v. Doe: Education Without Borders
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Joseph Konopinski, Sarah Davis
Junior Group Performance
Students: Pearl Zhu, Saira Kakumanu and Virginia Bardwell
Project Title: The Glow of Justice: Rights and Responsibilities of the Radium Girls
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Students: Corrado Naples, Nathan Thomas and Yianni Gountis
Project Title: Pieces of the Parthenon: How the Elgin Marbles Carved Controversy Between the Rights and Responsibilities of Cultural Artifacts
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Group Performance
Students: Elizabeth Liu, Lyndia Zheng and Shreya Chellu
Project Title: Truth on Trial: The Legacy of Elizabeth Loftus
School: Independent Entry
Students: Nan Auten and Penda Gassama
Project Title: I Speak as an American
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Sarah Davis
Junior Group Website
Students: Henry Petric-Black and Viyan Kshettry
Project Title: Ramp It Up! How the ADA Was Responsible for Granting Rights to Millions of Americans with Disabilities
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Students: Niko Constantinou and Noah DeLuca
Project Title: From Profit to Protection: How Ralph Nader Championed Consumer Rights and Pressured the Auto Industry into Responsibility
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Group Website
Students: Emma Rush and Scarlet Price
Project Title: Blood Sisters, Roll Up Your Sleeves!: Lesbian Community Action in Spite of Government Inaction During the AIDS Crisis
School: Maysville High School
Teacher: Lance Mcgee
Students: Ayat Jaffar, Leanne Zheng, Leen Akras and Linchang Zhao
Project Title: Printing Rights: How Black Newspapers Advocated for Justice in the Jim Crow South
School: Hawken Upper School
Teacher: Kenneth Clark
Junior Individual Documentary
Student: Pricilla Fernandes
Project Title: How Students Changed History: The East LA Walkouts of 1968
School: Genoa Middle School
Teacher: Sara Benge
Student: Gabriel Heard
Project Title: Nina Simone: Enforcing the Power of the Human Voice (The Power to Make a Change)
School: Toledo Early College
Teacher: Allison Edler
Senior Individual Documentary
Student: Will Stoepfel
Project Title: Coal Run: A Half-Century Struggle for Clean Water
School: Maysville High School
Teacher: Lance Mcgee
Student: Thomas Worley
Project Title: Beyond the Diamond: How Roberto Clemente Inspired the Next Generation
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Sarah Davis
Junior Individual Exhibit
Student: Jaxon Brobst
Project Title: The Ford Pinto Dilemma: Corporate Responsibility vs. Consumer Rights
School: Toledo Technology Academy
Teacher: Katerina Asmus
Student: Mira Patel
Project Title: Excavating Rights and Remains: The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Individual Exhibit
Student: Jonathan Pratt
Project Title: Cleveland Public Schools: The Fight For Integration
School: Lutheran West High School
Teacher: Dave Ressler
Student: Clare Park
Project Title: Social Security Act: Rights of People and Responsibility of the Government
School: Jerome High School
Teacher: Mary Bezbatchenko
Junior Individual Performance
Student: Zora Asalu
Project Title: Resilient Like a Raisin in the Sun: How Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis Dramatized Theatre to Advance Civil Rights for African-Americans
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Student: Rockam Parrino
Project Title: Howard Lyman: A Mad Cowboy Takes Responsibility for Livestock Rights and Healthy Living
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Individual Performance
Student: Greyson Hearing
Project Title: Disney's Neglect: How "Song of the South" Distorted the Legacy of the Uncle Remus Story
School: Maysville High School
Teacher: Lance Mcgee
Junior Individual Website
Student: Jana Alzoubi
Project Title: Rupture and Restoration in the Balkans: How the United Nations Took On the Responsibility to Secure Bosnian Rights
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Student: Nelson Kude
Project Title: United States v. Johnson and the Sherley Amendment: Rights and Responsibility in Drug Labeling
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Individual Website
Student: Calvin Lei
Project Title: Ignored Warnings, Lost Lives: NASA’s Responsibility in the Challenger Disaster
(1986)
School: Hawken Upper School
Teacher: Kenneth Clark
Student: Yunwoo Choi
Project Title: Medgar Evers: Igniting a Unified World
School: Western Reserve Academy
Teacher: Sarah Horgan
Junior Paper
Student: Chrysanthi Constantinou
Project Title: Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier and Rights v. Responsibilities: Student Journalists Put Their Foot in a Closing Schoolhouse Gate
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Student: Sofia Sideris
Project Title: Downstream Consequences: Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and the Irresponsible Use of D.D.T.
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Paper
Student: Omar Elbadawy
Project Title: The Lane Seminary Rebels: Balancing Rights and Responsibility in the Fight for Abolition and Free Speech
School: Hawken Upper School
Teacher: Kenneth Clark
Student: Victor Wang
Project Title: The Dawn of Diverse Drug Clinical Trials
School: Western Reserve Academy
Teacher: Sarah Horgan