Faith Nishimura of Claremont won second place in the Senior Individual Performance category at the national finals for the National History Day contest. Faith, a sophomore at Claremont High School, earned the prize with a project titled, Beyond the Boundaries of Barbed Wire: Japanese Americans in a Stand for Racial Justice.

More than half a million students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and international schools in China, Korea and South Asia competed in the 2017 National History Day contest.

Middle and high school students around the world created documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances and websites based on the theme, “Taking a Stand in History.”

The top entries were invited to the contest held at the University of Maryland, College Park on June 11.

“The National History Day Contest requires intensive research and analytical thinking skills,” said National History Day Executive Director Dr. Cathy Gorn. “Only the top projects make it to the national contest and it requires a truly superb entry to receive second place. This is an incredible accomplishment for Faith Nishimura.”

This fall, students around the world will begin creating entries for the 2018 contest under the theme, “Conflict and Compromise in History.” For more information on the contest and how to enter, visit nhd.org/contest.