MPA Eighth-Graders Qualify for History Fair State Finals

Morgan Park Academy’s annual eighth-grade history fair project produced not only a host of outstanding exhibits, but also four qualifiers for the state finals in Springfield.

Lyric Artwell (Crown Point, Ind.), Delia Bergin (Beverly), Alana Haaruun (East Beverly), and Simone Whitt (Morgan Park) will represent MPA at the state level after being recognized by judges at the Chicago Metro History Fair regional competition.

The four students joined classmates Allison Cleveland (East Beverly), Kristen Crawford (Flossmoor), Madalyn Marmolejo (West Beverly), and Rain Schuman-Cook (Morgan Park) at regionals after being selected as best in class by MPA faculty.

Morgan Park Academy eighth-graders participate each year in this popular and challenging competition, researching and presenting a long-form research project. 

Over three months of work during the winter, students researched primary and secondary sources and created museum-like exhibits, websites, research papers, and individual performances, with summary statements and annotated bibliographies.

Students develop high-level academic skills as they conduct research and synthesize sources to build their own arguments. They develop important civic reasoning skills as they critically evaluate sources and connect their study of the past with the world they see around them today. Students build agency and confidence as they become subject-matter experts on their chosen topics.

This year, the national theme of the project was “Frontiers in History: People Places, Ideas.”

MPA students tackled this theme through a variety of historical lenses:

Delia wrote a paper on Hedy Lamarr, the Hollywood screen legend whose scientific inventions helped aid the Allied cause in World War II.

Lyric created an exhibit about the evolution of spears in human history, and how they intertwined with human evolution.

Alana’s exhibit focused on historic advancements in anesthesia.

Simone designed a website with research about the history of birth control clinics.

Serving students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12, Morgan Park Academy is an independent college preparatory school founded in 1873 that annually ranks among the top private schools in the state and first among all schools in Chicago’s Southland area, according to third-party reports.