On May 1, groups from Niles North competed at State for History Fair. The Jane Collective Project will be moving on to compete at Nationals in Washington, D.C this summer. 

Juniors Sarah Novak, Nela Hanic, and Vivian Trupia collaborated to create a documentary, informing people of the Jane Collective project (1969-1973). 

The Jane Collective project essentially happened at the University of Chicago when Heather Booth had a friend who had gotten raped. She wanted to get an abortion, but the school wouldn’t help because they explained it was her fault and she should have known better. Dr. Howard helped this woman get an underground abortion. After hearing this instance, more people continued to call, turning this good deed into a big organization of women who wanted to help others who were dealing with similar situations. Medical professionals refused to perform this procedure, and communities refused to support or help these women. Even though there are a variety of reasons women might need an abortion whether it’s rape, life or death, sexual assault, or incest. 

What once started as a presentation for AP US History for Novak, Hanic, and Trupia, turned into an unforgettable memory. 

“Winning at State was honestly like the most surreal experience,” Novak said, “My group and I who have worked so hard on this project, qualified to go to Nationals in DC and that is just a huge, incredible experience. One two senior group documentaries from the entire state are going so the fact that we’re one of those groups, that is just incredible.” 

It takes a lot to make it this far into the process. Making it to nationals is no doubt a huge accomplishment for these students. Their hard work has paid off, and now their project is getting the attention it deserves.