Eleven Howard County students will advance to the National History Day competition after strong performances at the state competition.

The students who will advance placed either first or second in their respective categories at the state contest April 25.

The contests include exhibit, performance, multimedia documentary, research paper and Web site categories in junior and senior divisions. The National History Day Competition will be held at the University of Maryland, College Park from June 14 to 18.

In addition to the students who are moving on the national competition, five Howard County students won special awards at the state competition and teacher Margaret "Terri" O'Connell from Mayfield Woods Middle School was named the Maryland History Day Teacher of the Year.

The students advancing to the national competition are:

* Wilde Lake Middle School student Rachel Knobel for the paper "Thomas Paine: The Lost Founder Lives On;"

* Patuxent Valley Middle School student Faith Chung for the exhibit "Gustave Eiffel: Magician of Iron;"

* Patuxent Valley Middle School student Avait Chauhan for the documentary "Nikola Tesla: The Father of the Modern World;"

* Lime Kiln Middle School students David Hessler, Nicole Moy and Sydney Sanial for their group documentary "Rachel Carson: Mother of Environmentalism;"

* Ellicott Mills Middle School student Daniel Goldstein for the performance "Eva Peron: Hero to the Poor;"

* Dunloggin Middle School students Maria Ayoub and Shaelyn Cavanaugh for their group performance "Sarah Osborne;" and,

* Wilde Lake High School students Julia Singleton and Joe Wan for their group exhibit "Rachel Carson: An Environmental Legacy."

Howard County students who won special prizes at the state competition include:

* Ellicott Mills Middle School student Andrew Wang was honored by the National Endowment for the Humanities for his focus on cultural history in the research paper "Robert Morrison and the Impact of Early Western Missionaries to China."

* Atholton High School student Dillon Hagius was honored by Paul Mogin, Esquire, of the firm Williams and Connolly LLP, for his focus on legal and Constitutional history in the research paper "Ellery Schempp and School Prayer: Establishment v. Free Exercise."

* Lime Kiln Middle School students Melanie Berger, Elise Calanni and Rachel Calanni were honored by the Maryland Historical Trust for their focus on historic preservation in the group documentary "James Rouse: The City Gardener."

-- Jennifer Broadwater

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