Three Fairview students fascinated by Berlin Wall graffiti win national history competition

From left: Fairview High School students Emma Taylor, Natasha Uzdensky and Leah Jeong won first place for their work in this year’s National History Day competition, held at the University of Maryland in early June. (Courtesy photo)

Three Fairview High School students became fascinated by the Cold War-era Berlin Wall protest art — designs, illustrations and other artistic graffiti — after learning about it in class.

Students Emma Taylor, Natasha Uzdensky and Leah Jeong recently learned that others across the United States are interested in the subject, too. They won first place for their work in this year’s National History Day competition, which took place at the University of Maryland from June 9 to 13. The competition is an annual event that honors student projects on a variety of topics in history.

“We’re all quite interested in art history, social movements and social change,” Uzdensky said. “We thought this topic was a good middle ground between those ideas.”

A group of new high school students decided to explore the connections between Berlin Wall graffiti and the birth of protest art. Together, they conducted research, reviewed art archives, and combed through newspaper clippings.

“We were already familiar with the historical analysis to some extent. But doing the project put it in a new perspective because we were able to synthesize many of the arguments that professional scientists had, but also create our own line of narrative that was unique,” ​​Uzdensky said.

When the students arrived at the event, they also met with U.S. Senators Michael Bennett and John Hickenlooper, traded badges with people from different states in an intense game, and slept in a dorm with other attendees for the first time.

Other Boulder students at the competition took advantage of guidelines encouraging students to explore topics related to their interests or personal lives. Rising freshman Mina Berger of Fairview High School decided to do a project about someone she found personally interesting, and for a reason.

“I created a project dedicated to Marion Downs, a renowned pediatric audiologist from the 1960s,” Berger said. “This topic is very personal to me because I have unilateral hearing loss, and Marion Downs is a local topic because she did all of her work at the University of Denver.”

Berger and her groupmates Sophia Dunn and Jessie Yan won the Outstanding Junior Entry award, as well as the World War II History Prize for the state of Colorado.

“I believe the National History Day competition is designed to teach kids the skills necessary to complete a year-long college-level project while ensuring participants develop time management, advanced writing and research skills,” Berger said.

This year’s theme was “Turning Points in History.” Students were asked to create a documentary, performance, exhibit, article, or website that explored the topic. After advancing through local and state competitions, those who advanced to the national competition were judged by a national panel.

Colorado students have also been recognized with awards in previous years. This year, students from Southern Hills Middle School, Summit Middle School and Fairview High School participated in the competition.

The contest organizers have already released the theme and guidelines for students for 2025. For more information about National History Day, visit nhd.org/en/contest/national-contest/.

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