History Not Lost on Central Middle Students

Many people still remember the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union like it was yesterday but to students in middle and high school, the decades-long conflict that ended years before they were born is nothing but history.

Miranda Forbes and Stryker Parlett, eighth-graders at Central Middle School in Edgewater, were two of more than 50 students honored Thursday night at Old Mill High School for their National History Day projects. Their projects focused on the Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellites, during the Cold War space race.

"It was really interesting to see just how just much the Soviet Union had accomplished," Stryker said.

"We [Americans] always think that we are quite the superpower of the world," Miranda added. "But really, during the space race, we were challenged a lot by the Soviet Union technologically."

Miranda and Stryker were just two of more than 500,000 students across the country who created projects for National History Day. The national competition is held annually at the University of Maryland at College Park in June.

Click here for a complete list of regional first- and second-place winners who will go onto the state competition on April 27 at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.