They are “Team Sophie and Sophie.”

And the Central Junior High soon-to-be eighth-graders were nationally recognized for their project on Brown v. Board of Education at National History Day in late June.

Sophie Tate and Sophie Laufer won sixth place overall for their junior exhibit at the contest sponsored by The History Channel. They also won the outstanding junior award for Kansas at the competition in College Park, Md. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling declared that state laws that established separate public schools for black and white students denied black children equal educational opportunities.

“The judges really liked that it was local to Kansas, and they really liked our research,” Tate said. “They thought we had an extensive amount of information, and they really liked our sources and how we had taken a national conflict and brought it down into something that was local.”

Laufer said that their project also told an “under story” of the complex issues surrounding desegregation, including many blacks who thought the schools were just as good separate from each other.

Tate and Laufer gathered most of their information from local libraries and museums and interviewed Lawrence and Topeka residents to create a large display complete with photos and a timeline.

Lawrence was well represented at the history competition. Central students Grace Bova, Grace Clark and Nora Byers also qualified, as did Lawrence High graduate Rachel Van Horn.

Two other LHS students, Carina Fowler and Kristen Gish, also qualified but were unable to make the trip.

Central teacher Christine Conner and LHS teacher Michael Ortmann assisted the students this year with their projects.

The students were able to do plenty of sightseeing with their families in the nation’s capital.

“I thought it was really inspiring to be in (Washington) because we visited the Supreme Court and Library of Congress,” Tate said.

The two Sophies said they planned to work together on a project next year and hopefully improve on their success.