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Rexburg Teen Goes to Nationals for National History Day Competition

BYU-Idaho Radio · Rexburg Teen Goes to Nationals for National History Day Competiton


A Madison Junior High School student is competing at nationals in the National History Day competition. Her performance is one of 20 from the national competition to be featured in the Women’s History Museum showcase.  

Mirah Bennion recently finished her freshman year at Madison Junior High School and is the only student from Idaho to be featured in the national showcase. This is her third year competing in the National History Day competition.  

The National History Day competition is an annual event where students between 6th and 12th grades nationwide can compete and submit a project. The students create a project focusing on a moment in history. Bennion said the project is a long process for students. 

“They research it for most of the school year and then they create a project on it. They can create a project in one of five categories. It can be a paper, a performance, a documentary, an exhibit or a website,” Bennion said.  

With their finished projects, students compete at a regional and state level. If they place first or second at both events, they compete at nationals in Washington, D.C.  

This is Bennion’s first time at nationals. This year the event is virtual, which has created a new opportunity for top scoring students. Bennion’s performance is one of 20 to be featured in the virtual showcase at the Women’s History Museum. This showcase is available to view from June 14 through June 28.  

Her performance is titled, A Broken Nation: The “Civil” Communication of Rose O’Neal Greenhow and Elizabeth Van Lew. Bennion said she discovered her project idea while reading a book. 

“I was starting my research process and I really like to start it off by reading a book and trying to find things that people have researched well so that I can go and look at their sources. I was reading the book Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott and she spoke about four different women,” Bennion said. “Rose O’Neal Greenhow and Elizabeth Van Lew were two of the women. I was really intrigued by them, and I decided I wanted to study them for my project this year.”  

The showcase is available to view online at womenshistory.org/nhd-virtual-performance-showcase-2021.