Oyster River High School Sophomores Present Research at National History Day in Washington, D.C.

DURHAM – The Oyster River Cooperative School District proudly shares that two Oyster River High School students presented their research project at Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on National History Day.

The project by sophomores Stella Pillet-Shore and Lily Zehetner, guided by Social Studies teacher Gabrielle Anderson, qualified for national competition at the State National History Day event on April 15 at Plymouth State University. Representatives from 46 states presented their work at the Museum on Wednesday, June 14.

“Get the Girl to Check the Numbers: How the Black Women of West Area Computing Worked in Unseen Ways to Advance Scientific Research and Drive Social Progress,” focuses on the racism and sexism encountered by pioneering black female mathematicians working for NASA, and the social change they created.

The women worked in the Computing Unit, and were called “computers” long before complex mathematical computations were performed by machine.

The project title refers to Katherine Johnson, whose career story was told in the book and movie “Hidden Figures.” Astronaut John Glenn requested that Johnson personally perform the calculations for his suborbital flight, the first in American history, to ensure their accuracy.

“Get the girl to check the numbers,” Glenn said.

“I’m so incredibly honored by the recognition, but this also started with just a simple school project, and months ago I couldn’t imagine getting to this point,” Pillet-Shore said. “It’s amazing to be attending such an important event knowing that we got to this point by falling in love with the project and the history behind our exhibit.”

“This started off as a school project, but our hard work and dedication truly paid off when we were selected to go to state, where we earned entry into the national competition. I am so proud of how the project came together and I am extremely grateful for everyone that helped along the way,” Zehetner said. “It is an incredible feeling knowing that we got into this very important event through our love for history. Stella and I have been working on this for months and we could not be happier with how it turned out.”

“Stella’s and Lillian’s commitment to their project outside the normal scope of a classroom lesson is evidence of their talent and dedication to the topic and their passion for history,” said Assistant Superintendent Suzanne Filippone. “Stella’s and Lillian’s futures are certainly bright and we, at Oyster River Cooperative School District, are proud of them.”

Details about this exhibition can be found at NHD.org.