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

Leanne Wong sharing a website submission for the regional contest.

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