08/20/2026
Today, the State Board of Education (SBE) recognized four Mississippi History Day high school students who earned awards at the National History Day contest. The students are:
🔹Maggie Brown, a sophomore at Hernando High School, who placed in the top 60 internationally and represented Mississippi in the National Museum of American History Showcase. Maggie was unable to attend today’s SBE meeting.
🔹 Daniel Hu, a senior at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS), who placed in the top 30 internationally for his paper and won the Asian American History Award.
🔹Aiden Rhee, a freshman at Starkville High School, who placed in the top 40 internationally in the Junior Individual Website category.
🔹Catherine Shao, a senior at MSMS, who placed fifth internationally in the Senior Paper category.
Mississippi History Day, sponsored by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, is a year-long academic program in which students in grades 6–12 conduct extensive research on a historical topic related to the annual theme and create a project in one of five categories that include an exhibit, documentary, performance, website, or paper.
More than 600,000 students from around the world participate in National History Day each year, with approximately 3,000 advancing to the National Contest at the University of Maryland, College Park, in June. Each year, National History Day recognizes entries from each of its 57 affiliate programs. These honors recognize the highest-performing projects representing each state or region at the National Contest.
