Students from 13 Maine schools made presentations at the annual History Day competition, held this week at the University of Maine at Augusta.

Finishing first among schools were Loranger Middle School of Old Orchard Beach and Scarborough Middle School, tying for first place in the Junior Division, and Bonny Eagle High School in the Senior Division. Also, each of the participating schools had one or more winning student project entries in the individual and group categories.

History Day is a national competition where individual students and small groups in grades 6 through 12 develop Web sites, performances, exhibits, documentaries and papers on various topics in history. This year’s theme was “The Individual in History”. Competitors went through one or two rounds of judging by experts in history from around Maine, and the winners of the several categories qualify to move on to the national competition held at the University of Maryland outside of Washington, D.C. in June.

The statewide competition was made possible with the support of the Maine Humanities Council, Maine Historical Society, Margaret Chase Smith Library, Maine State Library, the University of Maine at Augusta, Hannaford Bros. Co., and dozens of historical societies from across the state.

This year’s guest speaker for the event was Lieutenant Colonel James Campbell of Old Town, a decorated officer in the U.S. Army who also holds a doctorate in history. He spoke of the important role of the individual in history by relating the story of one of his ancestors, a gentleman named Keogh, who fled the potato famine in Ireland, fought in the wars of Italian unification on the side of the Papal States, and then came to America, where he fought for the Union.

After the war, Sgt. Keogh remained in the army and became friends with George Armstrong Custer and died under his command at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. “One person-an ancestor of mine-participated in some of the most important events shaping our world today,” he said. “You as students are uniquely positioned to also have a profound impact on history.”

For more on History Day, visit the Web at www.maine.gov/sos/arc/historyday/histhome.htm.