Local high school students who claimed top honors for this year’s History Day competition were in the US east coast taking part in the National History Day competition, which concluded Friday.

Representing the territory were Leone High School students Keilona Falefia and Leusumanu Crichton, who took first place locally in the senior division for their documentary on Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii.

They were joined by local Junior Division winner Morgan Ulu of Samoa Baptist Academy who won with her monologue of Nafanua: The Samoan Goddess of War.

Ulu is the first local student to have ever been invited to perform for the VIPs in the nation’s capital during the “Breakfast of the Hill” event attended by NHD corporate sponsors, including the US Department of Education and the History Channel. Ulu’s mother Leone is traveling with the group.

The National History Day competition was held in Maryland and included participation from high school students representing different US states and territories.

The students were chaperoned by Program Director of the Amerika Samoa Humanities Council, Ekitoa Sopoaga.

Samoa News received an update on Wednesday from Crichton, who happily reported that they were able to spend time with American Samoa Congresswoman Aumua Amata in Washington DC