Dripping Springs ISD Students Place Fifth in National History Day Contest

DRIPPING SPRINGS — Dripping Springs ISD students Grant Gillum and Nora Gillum placed in the top five in the National History Day Contest, held June 9-13 at the University of Maryland.

As a seventh-grader at Dripping Springs Middle School, Nora took fourth place in the Junior Individual Website category with her website, “Poisoned Pills: How the 1982 Tylenol Scare Was a Turning Point in Consumer Safety.” She competed against sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students from across the country, as well as from Korea, Singapore, and U.S. territories. Her work included archival research at the National Archives, requests for information from federal agencies, and a personal interview with Johnson & Johnson’s top attorney during the 1982 Tylenol scare. Her sponsor is DSMS teacher Kristen Miller.

Grant Gillum, a four-time state champion and a junior at Dripping Springs High School, placed fifth in the Senior Individual Website category with his website, “Fueling Victory: How the Inch Pipelines Became a Turning Point in World War II.” Competing against students from across the United States, as well as Finland, Vietnam, Korea, and Guam, he placed third in the top five in the national competition. Grant’s work includes archival research at the National Archives and the Briscoe Center at the University of Texas at Austin, for which he received the Best Use of Texas Archival Collections award in the state competition. He also received a student leadership grant from the Dripping Springs Education Foundation to support historical research and travel to the national competition. His sponsor is DSHS teacher Kibbie Jensen.

Nora and Grant joined more than 600,000 students worldwide who completed projects in one of five categories (document, exhibit, article, performance, or website) related to the theme 2024: Turning Points in History. They both qualified for the national competition after winning state titles in the Texas History Day Contest in May.

Top students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and international schools were invited to compete in the National History Competition.