An assignment for a sophomore U.S. history course at Moanalua High School has earned three students a free trip to the University of Maryland, a gold medal and $1,000 in the National History Day competition.

The 16-year-olds — Christine Nip, Megan Tomino and Melissa Ruan — teamed up to create a display on Depression-era photographer Dorothea Lang, which took the top prize in the senior display division at the national event at the University of Maryland.

"It's a very rigorous contest," said their teacher, Kevin Chaitin. "By time they get to nationals, they're competing against 25,000 projects."

In keeping with the Great Depression theme, the girls kept their display simple, with burlap-framed black- and-white photos against a black background. "We chose some of her more emotional work that really showed the conditions of the Depression and how people were dealing with it," Ruan said.

The Great Depression began in 1929 after the stock market crashed and continued until the United States entered World War II in 1941.

When they saw the elaborate displays by other students at the national competition, they thought their own stark design might not be up to muster. "We couldn't believe our project got first place out of 84," Tomino said.

"It was a shining moment I'll never forget," Nip said. "I think our topic was definitely powerful because it related to a theme of communication and history a lot."

The project took a year to complete. The students started in August by picking a topic for an eight-page paper, written individually. Since all three girls picked Dorothea Lang, they later formed a team to create the exhibit, which required many hours of afterschool and weekend time. "We had to do a lot of work, which was frustrating sometimes," Tomino said.

Nip said one of the biggest challenges was finding people to interview nationally who actually lived through the Great Depression. "The only interview we got was a reporter who worked with Dorothea Lang before she passed away," she said.

Chaitin said having all his students participate in the contest is a lot of work, but the skills the students gain will benefit them in the future. "It teaches the kids analytical skills and research skills," he said. "When they enter college it's assumed they know how to write a paper."

In his class they get practice developing theses and creating annotated bibliographies, with at least 40 sources.

Ruan said the team's primary focus was on the class requirements rather than the competition. "Mr. Chaitin has high standards ... and we were just doing our best to get our A," she said.

Tomino said she will be required to enter the contest again for her junior history class. "How am I going to top this?" she said. "It's going to be so hard!"

Nip said she is ready for the challenge. "In the beginning I was really stressed, I just wanted this to be over, but after you see what level of work you can do, you just want to do it again and do it better," she said.