Over 2000 students competed at California State History Day in San Diego on May 5-8.   Two of the winning projects which will advance to the national competition are from the Fontana Unified School District:

• Matthew Guerra - Almeria Middle School
  Junior Individual Documentary:  "Ernie Pyle:  Communication in History - Key to Understanding"
• Gasper Muela, Roger Portillo & Martin Diaz - A.B. Miller High School
  Senior Group Exhibit:  "The Pony Express:  Communication Across a Divided Nation"

Two other projects by Fontana students were chosen as runners-up and will serve as alternates for the National competition:

• Ivan Cisneros and Diana Luna - A.B. Miller High School
  Senior Group Exhibit:  "London Coffee Houses:  Grounds for Communication"
  Their award also won a special award for excellence in the use of geography.
• Marlon Rojas, Sunny Lominario, Jasmine Causor & Jorge Trujillo - A.B. Miller High School
  Senior Group Documentary:  "Painting a New Identity:  Diego Rivera Communication Through Art, Understanding the Dignity of Mexican Culture"
  Their project also won the Herbert Nikirk Award for visual arts in history.

In addition to the national qualifiers and alternates, two Fontana projects were finalists and judged to be among the top 10 percent of entries in their round:

• Billy Brahams - Sequoia Middle School
  Junior Individual Exhibit:  "Navajo Code Talkers Create an Unbreakable Code"
• Kali Knudsen - Canyon Crest Elementary School
  Individual Poster:  "Slaves Communicating Freedom"

The winners of the state competition will compete at the 25th Annual National History Day event at the University of Maryland on June 12-16.