Pleasant Valley dominates state history competition

Pleasant Valley — Pleasant Valley Middle School students had a strong showing at Washington State National History Day on May 2 in Auburn.

Pleasant Valley had the top three individual performances, with eighth-grader Mary Lynn McLeod coming in first with her presentation titled “The Leadership and Legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt.” Eighth-graders Ethan McClintock and Bailey McCormick finished second and third, respectively.

McClintock’s presentation was called “Solidarity and the Leadership and Legacy of Lech Walesa,” while McCormick presented on “The Top Down Tiers of Leadership and Their Legacy of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League.”

Next, McLeod and McClintock will head to the National History Day finals, held June 13-18 at the University of Maryland.

In the group categories, sixth-graders Elijah Engstrom and Jonathan Gibert came in third, and Courtney Beyer and Stephanie Higgins won a medal and cash award for their documentary, “The Need for Change, the Dream, the Reality: the Leadership and Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.”

They will present their documentary in Olympia in June. Chief Umtuch Middle School students Arlilah Abatayo and Samantha Brooks finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the individual competition.