Woodmere twins score historic three-peat

It’s common for siblings, especially twins, to try to outdo each other.

But Woodmere residents and twins Jonny and Rachel Miller, eighth-graders at Woodmere Middle School, have done the opposite. Instead of competing, they have teamed up to create a dominant duo when it comes to history contests.
The brother-and-sister team finished first in their category — junior group documentary — at the New York State History Day competition in upstate Cooperstown last month, and qualified for the Kenneth E. Behring National History Day contest, which will be held at the University of Maryland, in College Park, June 12-16.

It was the third consecutive year that Rachel and Jonny won the state competition. They qualified for it by winning the Long Island History Day regional at Hofstra in March. Competition began at the middle school’s fair in February. The twins finished in the top seven at the national contest and won the award for best project in New York in 2014 and 2015.

“It shows us that all the hard work we do and put into it pays off,” Rachel said.

Editing is vital, as the Millers typically tape more than 20 minutes of interviews and then cut them down to the required time. Like any editor, they look for repetitive statements to discard, and make sure the sources’ best quotes are included. They also use music to underscore the subject matter.

“They have the ability to use today’s technology such as Face Time, and they’re learning life skills,” said Kathleen Durney, an eighth-grade social studies teacher who is one of two History Day project advisers.

History Day projects, though not mandatory at Woodmere Middle School, are taken seriously. The school’s program began in 1997, and 400 students take part out of an enrollment of 750, Durney said. The contests for sixth- to 12th-graders are held in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American territories and international schools in Central America, China, Korea and South Asia. There are more than 600,000 participants, and the competition awards thousands of dollars in scholarships and prizes annually.

This year’s theme of exploration, encounter and exchange in history led the twins to produce “Michael Rockefeller’s Quest for Primitive Art,” which examined Rockefeller’s expedition to the Asmat region of New Guinea and his encounters with the Asmat people in 1961. After learning that Asmat culture had been described as stone-age and that they had a reputation as cannibalistic headhunters, the Miller twins wanted to learn more. Rockefeller, the fifth child of Nelson Rockefeller, a New York state governor and later vice president, disappeared in New Guinea, and his death remains a mystery. He was either a victim of the Asmats’ supposed cannibalism or he drowned. He was declared legally dead in 1964.

Rachel and Jonny interviewed Mary Rockefeller Morgan, Michael’s twin sister; Dr. Maia Nuku, associate curator of Oceanic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Jennifer Larson, assistant visual resource manager at the Met for the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas; and Carl Hoffman, who wrote the 2014 book “Savage Harvest,” about his investigation of Rockefeller’s disappearance. They also spoke with filmmaker Keith Beauchamp.

“When we started in sixth grade, we didn’t know what to expect,” Jonny said. “Then we worked on the documentaries and we went to Hofstra, the Long Island fair, [and] we knew what would be expected.”

Time management is also among the Millers’ skills: Both are not only busy with schoolwork and producing these documentaries — the topic is selected in the fall, with a deadline of early February — but they play multiple sports during the school year.

Rachel and Jonny both said they would miss middle school, but are looking forward to the challenges of high school, including continuing their History Day award-winning ways.

“They’re learning skills outside the classroom,” said Vincent Lospinuso, an eighth-grade social studies teacher who is the other project adviser. “They are well prepared for the future.”