Mansfield Students Return Home with National History Day Medal with Help from Irish Pigeons

Amanda Zadnik and Simonne Thibeault, seniors at E.O. Smith High School in Mansfield were among a team 60 students representing Connecticut last week at the prestigious 2025 National History Day® Contest last week. The competition, held at the University of Maryland, was attended by 2,800 students from across the U.S. and abroad. Amanda and Simonne set out with hope and returned as home as medal winners. The two high school seniors earned third-place for their exhibit Rewarded by Death: How Operation Columba Exemplifies the Rights and Responsibilities of Civilians in Wartime.

The annual theme for this year’s National History Day competition was Rights and Responsibilities in History. During the week-long competition, Connecticut students presented their papers, exhibits, websites and documentaries to teams of judges who reviewed entries, provided students valuable feedback, and selected the top finishers.

Amanda and Simonne are History Day veterans as they have participated in Connecticut History Day since they were both in middle school. Their Operation Columba exhibit won earned first place in the Connecticut History Day statewide competition in May at Central Connecticut State University. Their win earned them one final opportunity to represent Connecticut. Their ultimate victory was made sweeter as they opted to miss their high school graduation in order to compete at nationals.

“Initially, I began competing in Connecticut History Day because it got me out of social studies class once a week,” said Simonne when discussing why she got involved in Connecticut History Day program. “I like to be involved with everything extracurricular, so I jumped on board. After placing at my first regional contest, I think I realized I had found my niche. History Day gave me an opportunity to spend time with my friends and tap into my creative and investigative sides.”

For Amanda, Connecticut History Day was a lifeline during the COVID pandemic. “Simonne and I started working together during the COVID pandemic. It was a way to stay connected in a time of such severe separation,” she said. “It grew our friendship and was something that we both thoroughly enjoy doing. Above all, the community within both Connecticut History Day and National History Day is just incredible and welcoming. If we could, we would both continue participating in college.”

Their decision to focus on carrier pigeons in World War II was calculated. “In seventh grade, the first time I competed at the National contest (virtually), my family, friends, and I watched the livestream of the awards ceremony from my livingroom. It seemed as though all of the projects that were winning awards were about carrier pigeons,” she said. “We also noticed there was a prize for a topic related to Irish history, which sponsored two free tickets to Ireland.” Simonne’s mother jokingly proposed they do a project about an Irish carrier pigeon. After a bit of research, they discovered Paddy the pigeon.

Paddy the pigeon was from Northern Ireland and was the fastest pigeon to fly from Normandy back to his home with news of the successful D-Day invasion. “Paddy became an inside joke for years,” said Simonne. “For our final year, we knew we had to pay homage to Paddy and research WWII carrier pigeons.”

Matthew Sivo, a social studies teacher at E.O Smith High School, has served as mentor to students participating in Connecticut History Day for several years. This year nine of his students competed at Connecticut History Day statewide competition. In addition to Amanda and Simonne, his other students Kalyani Tihaiya and Mia Chen also took top prize at the statewide competition and went to nationals with their performance From California's Campuses to Communities: Asian Student Activists' Fight for Inclusivity.

Reflecting on their choice to miss graduation, Simonne shared “Because History Day has been such an important part of my life, I wanted to stay for the awards ceremony and see it through,” she said. “I had a good feeling about our project! I had no idea that missing graduation was such a big deal until everyone we told was repeatedly shocked.” Principal Louis Deloreto was supportive of their choice and when the girls returned to school, the E.O Smith High School administration held a small graduation ceremony in their honor.

For Rebecca Taber, Director of Secondary Education Programs and Connecticut History Day for the Connecticut Democracy Center, Simonne and Amanda embody the true History Day spirit. “They were passionate about their research and they've worked hard year after year to secure repeated trips to National History Day,” she said. “Last year, they were determined to return to nationals in their senior year. They chose a topic they were passionate about, continually improved upon their project at every level of competition. They not only met their goal to finish in the top ten but won third place nationally. Simonne and Amanda are exceptionally kind and gifted students. We will miss them and look forward to seeing all that they achieve in the future!”

Students interested in Connecticut History Day/National History Day® participate in the program in various ways, including classroom instruction, after-school clubs, enrichment programs, or as an independent project. They are permitted to explore any aspect of history, from local to international, that relates to a theme selected by National History Day annually. They can work individually or in groups on topics of their own choice. Students must present projects in one of five categories – exhibits, documentaries, websites, papers, or performances and learn how to identify primary sources, conduct research, and write a historical argument and thesis statement.

To view the Awards Ceremony, visit https://nhd.org/en/contest/national-contest. The theme for the 2026 National History is "Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History". This theme coincides with the 250th anniversary of the United States and encourages exploration of how revolutions, reactions, and reforms have shaped history. Support for Connecticut History Day has been provided to CTDC through a partnership grant with Connecticut Humanities. Additional support is provided by the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, the New Haven Museum, and the Franklin Foundation. For more information, visit historydayct.org.

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The Connecticut Democracy Center (CTDC) provides people of all ages with a lifetime pathway to active citizenship and the tools to take civic action in their communities. With a broad range of initiatives including The Connecticut Network (CT-N), Connecticut's Old State House, Connecticut History Day, Connecticut's Kid Governor®, The Connecticut Democracy Center Debate Tournament, and We The People: The Citizen and The Constitution, The CTDC envisions a society where everyone is empowered to participate in our democracy. Learn more by visiting ctdemocracycenter.org and engaging on

For Immediate Release
June 20, 2025
Barbara Dell, Marketing Manager
Connecticut Democracy Center