This year’s Island-Wide History Day Junior Division for grades 6-8 have picked the top three winners in each category for this year’s History Day. The announcement has not been made yet for the overall top winners in the Junior Division. That will not be made until Friday May 2 when they hand out the awards.

The American Samoa Humanities Council, the local affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Samoa Department of Education has sponsored this local competition every year since 2003.

This year’s theme is ‘Rights and Responsibility in History’. Students were asked to examine how these subjects have shaped the course of history, especially with our very own local history.

The competition consists of nine categories that include, Group Documentary, Group Performance, Group Exhibit, Individual Website, Group Website, Historical Paper, Individual Exhibit, Individual Performance and Individual Documentary.

Here are the top three winners of each category:

Group Documentary:

1st-Laralena Aab, Freyalena Aab/Alofau Elem/ Title: Japanese Americans

2nd-Jazlynnrose Buckner, Issabela Sagote/Leone Midkiff Elem/ Title: Magna Carta

3rd-Venessa Covarrubias, Percilla Sivanu/Coleman Elem/ Title: Women’s Rights

Group Performance:

1st-Joe Turituri, Ronnie Turituri/Coleman Elem/ Title: Maligi Samoa

2nd-Paul Livine Vondincklage, AJ Iosua, Aroni Aua’a/Matatula Elem/ Title: Rights for All: Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier on and off the field

3rd- Esther Vaeao, Manu Danielson, Elisha Tupai/Peteli Academy/ Title: Plessy vs Ferguson and the Jim Crow Laws

Group Exhibit:

1st-Akenese Saleutogi, Mara Filemoni/Manumalo Baptist Academy/ Title: My Color Does Not Define Me. Apartheid in South Africa

2nd-Imelda Aliva, Divine Ah-Sui/Leon Midkiff Elem/ Title: Cyrus the Great

3rd-Ofisa Asiata, Joshua Taani/Leone Midkiff Elem/ Title: John Muir and the Sierra Club

Individual Website:

1st-Karlinna Sanchez/South Pacific Academy/ Title: South Pacific Tuna Treaty

2nd-Ira Louise A. Lobetos/St. Theresa Academy/ Title: Frederick Douglas and his fight for freedom

3rd-Jan Trinity A. Francisco/St. Theresa Academy/ Title: Women in Sports: The struggle for equality

Group Website:

1st-Masaru Hayashi, Megumi Hayashi/South Pacific Academy/ Title: The right to bear arms

2-Gayathri Murali, Shobita Rajamohan/South Pacific Academy/ Title: Justifying Rebellion: John Locke and the right to revolution

3rd-Leiahuetta Faalogo, Naomi Aasa/Lupelele Elem/ Titile: History of Women’s Role in the Military

Historical Paper:

1st-Stephanie Floor/Lupelele Elem/ Title: The Land is Your Land or Not: The Rights and Responsibilities of American Samoa Nationals

2nd-Bianca Eagan/South Pacific Academy/ Title: Rosie the Riveter: Working Women During WWII

3rd-Ordessa Luisa Pila/Coleman Elem/ Title: Rights and Responsibilities of First Ladies

Individual Exhibit:

1st-Pauline Vaivao/Pacific Horizons/ Title: Sweatshops: A modern slavery of violation of human rights and lack of responsibilities

2nd-Sylvester Sale Toatelegese/Manulele Elem/ Title: The Indian Removal Act of 1830

3rd-Kone Purcell/Marist St. Francis Academy/ Title: Animal Welfare

Individual Performance:

1st-Louise Lafaele/Aua Elem/ Title: Frederick Douglas

2nd-Mose Lomu/Matafao Elem/ Title: The Matai System: The influence of Christianity on the Matai System

3rd-Julia Maanaima/Coleman Elem/ Title: Susan B. Anthony’s Speech on Women’s Right to Vote

Individual Documentary:

1st-Karallyn Fitisone/South Pacific Academy/ Title: The Forgotten Mau: The rights and responsibilities of the Mau movement in American Samoa

2nd-Ryan Desaulles/Pacific Horizons/ Title: Minimum Wage and American Samoa: A lesson to be learned

3rd-Mua Fiatoa/Tafuna Elem/ Title: Nelson Mandela: The Apartheid