Two students from Starkville were recognized for their outstanding work during the National History Day 2025 contest, recently held in College Park, Md.
Phoebe Jones and Michael Taquino, both of Starkville High School, were recipients of the Senior Mississippi Outstanding Affiliate Award. The award recognizes the quality and dedication of both the students and the teachers who guide them, according to Bently Cochran. Cochran coordinates the Mississippi History Day program through the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
“All our students contestants represented Mississippi well,” Cochran said. “Their achievement in the national competition is the result of their hard work on the projects and rigorous history instruction in school classrooms.”
The Mississippi students were among more than 3,000 contest participants from the U.S., Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, along with Department of Defense schools in the Atlantic, China, and Korea.
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Jones and Taquino were recognized for their project titled “From Ancient Text to National Tongue: Eliezer Ben-Yehuda’s Impact on the Hebrew Language.” Ben-Yehuda was a Russian-Jewish linguist and lexicographer and is widely considered the “father of modern Hebrew.”
“National History Day has taught me how to thoroughly and professionally research academic topics, and it has deepened my interest in pursuing more historical work in the future,” Jones said. “It’s been an incredible experience, one that I’m excited to take part in again.”
Myrto Sergi, another Starkville High School student who participated in the national contest, said the program has been “vital” to his learning during the most recent academic year.
“It has taught me to read between the lines, ask more questions, and has made me a more confident and productive person overall,” Sergi said. “[National History Day] is one of the best experiences a student can have to prepare for the future.”
National History Day is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the teaching and learning of history. Founded in 1974, the National History Day contest engages more than half a million students each year in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. Projects compete at the local and affiliate levels before the top entries are invited to the national competition held annually at the University of Maryland.
The Mississippi History Day program is a statewide initiative that encourages middle and high school students to conduct in-depth historical research and present their findings in creative ways.
