Huntingtown High Students Bring History To Life For Maryland/Calvert 250 Celebrations

HUNTINGTOWN, Md. — As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, a group of Calvert County students is turning service learning into a passion project that goes beyond the walls of their school.

Maryland 250 is a statewide project led by the Maryland 250 Commission, established by Gov. Wes Moore in 2023. The purpose of the commission is to “look back at our state’s contributions to American history through the eyes and experiences of fellow Marylanders. This commemoration is for every one of us, from the Chesapeake Bay to the mountain peaks out west. Attend events, get involved, give back and gain perspective.”

Counties and towns around the state are participating through local initiatives. This includes the Calvert 250 club at Huntingtown High School, which is emerging as a local leader due to the efforts of the students who have found a passion for history through this club.

Mikayla Millsaps, a senior at Huntingtown High, joined the club late last school year through an initiative called Service-Learning Through Opportunities & Real-world Missions (STORM) that helps students create service learning projects. Millsaps and a friend, Alexis “Lexie” Nagle, helped drive the club’s growth and worked on its first projects. Now, this group of five seniors — Millsaps, Nagle, Eden Klahr, Kat Jackson and Claire Noland — are driving much of the efforts and interests in the county for this historical milestone.

The Calvert 250 club has a packed event schedule they’re bringing to the people of Calvert in 2026. Their plans include lectures at senior centers, a mural, a “bad boys and girls of the Revolution” exhibit, a proclamation in January from the Board of County Commissioners, partnerships with Jefferson Patterson Park and the Maryland State Archives, and a trip to the site of the Battle of Brooklyn for a four-hour walking tour.

But the rewarding part for club members is digging into history beyond the textbook elements. It’s the way the club has inspired the students’ love for learning and helped them see that history is more than names and dates. It’s about the men and women who drove the revolution forward through dedication and sacrifice and the many human stories that go untold.

“There’s so much to find,” Millsaps said. “It’s like going down a rabbit hole.”

Millsaps told one story about a figure named Mordecai Gist, who was the captain of the Baltimore Independent Company, the first company raised in Maryland, and later served as the brigadier general commanding the Maryland Line. Notably, Gist also was so dedicated to the revolution that he named his sons “Independent” and “States.”

Social studies teacher and club sponsor Jeff Cunningham said that the club consists of a core group of 10 kids, though they’ve had plenty of support and interest from other students and clubs, too.

The most amazing thing, Cunningham said, was that the club has sparked a new love of learning for all the kids involved.

“This is education,” Cunningham said. “It’s great, it’s all volunteer. Kids are signing up for this because they want to. This is just the love of learning.”

Cunningham added that finding your personal connection to history is part of what makes it sing.

“We still have plenty of revolutionary blood in this county,” Cunningham said. “If your family has been here for generations, we encourage you to look into it and bring those stories to us. We want to hear them.”

Millsaps said that all Marylanders can and should get involved in the Maryland/Calvert 250. Not only for the cool events like the Bad Boys and Girls Exhibit, but to find a deeper sense of belonging and community with the people around you.

“I think it’s important to understand all of our history,” Millsaps said. “I’ve never thought much about it before, or Maryland’s history, or learning about the state that I’m from. But it’s so interesting to feel connected to my state. All the stuff we did — it’s exciting.”

You can follow the Huntingtown High Calvert 250 club online to stay up to date on events and more.

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