The National History Day 2026 theme was "Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History." The following list highlights the award-winning projects from Staples High School, Bedford Middle School, and Coleytown Middle School students at the Fairfield Regional Contest:

Staples High School (Senior Division)

Senior Paper:

Second Place: Marian Anderson: A Voice That Challenged a Nation
Student: Alexandra Ben

Group Exhibit:

Second Place: Technicolor in The Wizard of Oz: Revolutionizing the Standards of Cinema
Students: Ruby Boroujerdi, Cami Barger, Madeleine Stiber

Third Place: Progression Toward Gender Equality: Violence Against Women's Act
Students: Charlotte Hoke, Cali Kingsley

Honorable Mention: The Degree That Sparked Revolution and the Woman Behind It: Elizabeth Blackwell
Students: Madelynn Flom, Lilly Ford, Brooklynn Crawford

Senior Individual Documentary:

First Place: NASA: How A Space Agency Drove Civil Rights Reforms
Student: Noah Bruno

Third Place: Equality Over Injustice How Title IX shaped Female Athletics
Student: Serena Goldfarb

Honorable Mention: Southbury vs. Fascism: When a Small Town took a Stand
Student: Alexandra Gottlieb

Senior Group Documentary:

Second Place: Igniting History: How Gunpowder Triggered a Global Transformation
Students: Luca Ghedini, Pranav Tamilselvan

Honorable Mention: Revolution on the Fairway
Students: Graham Lewis, Akshay Rao, Ryan Asiel

Senior Individual Website:

Second Place: We Are Columbine: How Normalized Deviance in Gun Violence Has Undermined Effective Gun Reform in School Shootings
Student: Cameryn Brink

Bedford Middle School and Coleytown Middle School (Junior Division)

Junior Individual Exhibit:

First Place: The Race to Discover DNA and the Dark Side of Winning
School: Bedford Middle School (Westport)
Student: Henry Bach

Third Place: The Radium Girls
School: Bedford Middle School (Westport)
Student: Sofia Farquhar

Honorable Mention: Truman vs McArthur: The Firing That Changed History
School: Bedford Middle School (Westport)
Student: James Ben

Junior Group Exhibit:

Second Place: The Legacy of Lewis Hine
School: Coleytown Middle School (Westport)
Students: Matilda Jones, Nora Lipschutz

Honorable Mention: A Day to Remember: The Attacks on 9/11
School: Bedford Middle School (Westport)
Students: Gemma Porrino, Charlotte Carr

Junior Individual Documentary:

Second Place: The Radium Girls : Shining A Light On Injustice
School: Bedford Middle School (Westport)
Student: Madyan Hemdan

Junior Group Documentary:

First Place: Lewis Hine and Adding Awareness to Child Labor
School: Coleytown Middle School (Westport)
Students: Emily Bernier, Emmeline Cutler

Honorable Mention: The Reform on Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy
School: Coleytown Middle School (Westport)
Students: Dexter Abrams, Rhys Livingston

Junior Paper:

First Place: A Revolution in Medicine: How the Spanish Flu Led to Reform in American Public Health.
School: Coleytown Middle School (Westport)
Student: Mia Amin

Junior Individual Website:

Second Place: The Needle that Saved Millions: The Eradication of Smallpox
School: Bedford Middle School (Westport)
Student: Leanne Wong

Junior Group Website:

Second Place: Angel of the Battlefield
School: Bedford Middle School (Westport)
Students: Brooklynn Flom, Johanna Lawton

Junior Group Performance:

First Place: 1810 May Revolution, Voices of the Cabildo
School: Coleytown Middle School (Westport)
Student: Brandon Sheefel, Olivia Duran

Students who placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or received an Honorable Mention in their respective categories are eligible to advance to the Connecticut History Day State Contest, which is scheduled for May 2, 2026, at Central Connecticut State University.