Freshman wins third consecutive history title

Dripping Springs High School freshman Grant Gillum captured his third-straight state title in the Texas History Day competition over the weekend.

On Saturday, April 15, Gillum took first in the Senior Division Website category with his entry, “Power for the People: How LBJ Tamed the Frontiers of Texas Hill Country Electrification'. Gillum also won a special award for his use of archival records from the LBJ Presidential Library.

In February, Gillum won the Cen-Tex History Day Contest to qualify for the state event. His website was based on the 2022–2023 theme, “Frontiers in History: People, Places, and Ideas.” Gillum’s faculty sponsor is long-time National History Day teacher Kibbie Jensen.

The National History Day contest engages more than 350,000 students to conduct historical research on a topic of their choice. Each year, a theme is chosen for broad application to world, national or state history and its relevance to ancient history or to the more recent past. In addition to winning the last three state competitions, Gillum placed third at the national contest in 2021.

The National History Day event will be held June 11–15 at the University of Maryland in College Park. This is the fourth-straight year a DSISD student has advanced to the national event.