In recent months over 180 Shenton students, from Years 8-11, have participated in the National History Challenge – a research based national competition that allows students the opportunity to be young historians. Last weekend the winners were announced and Shenton students shone in many areas – with the one student, Zephyr Thomas from Year 8, being announced as the winner of the Platinum award, for being the best young Historian nationally. Zephyr will fly to Canberra to accept his national award later this term.

Full winners included:

• Zephyr Thomas (Year 8): Young Historian Gold (State Winner) AND Young Historian Platinum (National Winner) in the Year 9 Category. Zephyr’s research essay critiqued the way religion influenced medical practices and social responses to the Black Death, and argues that religion also concurrently contributed to the crisis of faith, which ultimately challenged religious authority, and transformed societal structures in medieval Europe.
• Chloe O’Donoghue (Year 10): Young Historian Gold (State Winner) in the Year 10 category for her research essay which argued that the failure of the Great Emu War (1932-34), the mass culling of emus in response to the emu populations ravaging WWI veteran’s crops, ultimately benefitted West Australian tourism.
• Nicholas Li, Raghav Gujarati, & Thomas Storey (Year 9): Young Historian Silver (State Finalists) in the Australian First Nations Category for their research and original composition focussing on cultural genocide in Australia.
• Zerlina Xu (Year 9): Young Historian Silver (State Finalists) in the Australian First Nations Category for her research and essay on The Stolen Generations
• Lily Nguyen (Year 11): Young Historian Silver (State Finalist) in the Year 11 category for her short story written from the perspective of ‘Anzac Cottage in Mount Hawthorn’

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