On Sat. March 3, Solon High School senior Joseph Petrunak-Hahn advanced to the state level of the National History Day (NHD) competition at the regional NHD contest at Case Western Reserve University. On April 21, Petrunak-Hahn will compete against other students as part of the state competition at Ohio Wesleyan University.

At the regional competition, members of the SHS Heroes of History Club competed against other Northeast Ohio schools in five divisions: documentary, exhibit, paper, website and performance. Each entry had to line up with the annual contest theme, and the 2018 competition theme was “conflict and compromise.”

For this year’s contest, Petrunak-Hahn created an exhibit board on the Yugoslav wars of the 1990’s.

Petrunak-Hahn is in his second year as a Heroes of History member. Heroes of History, founded last year, “intends to provide opportunities for students to broaden and deeply understand their knowledge of history.” Heroes of History also holds discussions and writing contests on numerous historical figures and ideas.

Petrunak-Hahn said that without the club, he never would have gotten involved with the NHD competition.

“This was my first time attending NHD,” Petrunak-Hahn said. “I definitely haven’t done anything like this before.”

Petrunak-Hahn said that he thought he could work under the “conflict and compromise” theme while still learning more about an area of history that was foreign to him.

“I chose the Yugoslav conflict because I was ignorant on the subject, and it interested me,” Petrunak-Hahn said.

NHD judges examine all parts of a contestant’s exhibit, from historical accuracy to analysis to types of research presented. Judges also are encouraged to ask a contestant on-the-spot questions about their exhibit.

Petrunak-Hahn met the challenge, and received a grade of “Superior” on most of the slots in his ballot. Heroes of History member Timmy Huang elaborated on what it truly takes to advance to the state competition.

“To really advance in NHD, you need to score really high in all of the areas,” Huang said. “‘Good’ is not good enough.”

Heroes of History advisor and SHS social studies teacher Sean Fisher commended Petrunak-Hahn for the level of effort he put into his exhibit.

“Joe did a great job tackling a complex issue, and I think that is what the judges really liked about his project,” Fisher said. “He spent all of the time researching the project and putting together his exhibition outside of school, and that really shows his love of history and his dedication to doing an outstanding project. We’re all really proud of his hard work.”

As Petrunak-Hahn anticipates the state competition on Saturday, he said that he still looks forward to what he’ll take away from NHD outside of competition.

“[My favorite part of NHD] is seeing all the presentation boards that other people have made,” Petrunak-Hahn said. “It’s a real joy seeing what other people put together.”