Students From Across America Make History: National History Day Improves Students Learning and Brings History to Life

More than 2,000 students in grades six through 12 from 49 states, the District of Columbia, and American Samoa. In total, 7,000 people are expected at the five-day National History Day event, including teachers, parents, and the general public, as well as judges from universities, museums and federal agencies.

(PRWEB) June 7, 2006 -- National History Day Improves Students Learning and Brings History to Life

WHO:     More than 2,000 students in grades six through 12 from 49 states, the District of Columbia, and American Samoa. In total, 7,000 people are expected at the five-day event, including teachers, parents, and the general public, as well as judges from universities, museums and federal agencies.

WHAT: Students present projects based on in depth research related to the theme, Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas, Events, in the form of exhibits, performances, papers and documentaries.

More than a student competition, National History Day is a campaign to change the way history is taught and learned in our nation’s classrooms. The goal of the year-long program is to promote the study of history by engaging students and teachers in the excitement of historical inquiry, community outreach and creative presentation.

WHEN:     June 11-15.

Welcoming Ceremony:     6/11 Sunday    6:30 pm- 7:45 pm
Nyumburu Amphitheater (east side of Stamp Student Union)
Speakers include: Authors Linda Hunt and Julian E. Kulski

    Judging:

Awards Ceremony    6/15 Thursday    8:30 am – 12:00 pm

WHERE:     University of Maryland, College Park, Stamp Student Union

CONTACTS: Mark Robinson, 301-314-9542

SYNOPSIS OF SAMPLE PROJECTS:

TAKING A STAND FOR JUSTICE - Students Mona Ghadiri, Callie McCune and Agnes Mazur from Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill., created an NHD documentary on Mississippi civil rights activist Clyde Kennard. The students research on Kennard lead them to literally make history and take a stand for justice on Kennard’s behalf. The students used their NHD research to advocate for clearing the arrest record of Clyde Kennard, who was imprisoned after repeatedly trying to enroll in all-white southern universities in the 1950s. In May, a judge posthumously exonerated Kennard, who died of cancer in 1963 and declared him innocent in the same Hattiesburg courtroom where he was convicted in 1960 and sentenced to 7 years' hard labor for stealing $25 worth of chicken feed, a charge disproved this year when the lone witness against him recanted.

SPY HELPS BRING DEMOCRACY TO POLAND - Alex Hyman, Sarah Chilton, Corey Gelbaugh and Jordon Stasyszyn from Carlisle, Pa., built an NHD exhibit titled “Lurking in the Shadows: A Double Life to Democracy.” The exhibit details how Polish officer Ryszard Kuklinski worked during the Cold War to help bring democracy to Communist Poland. The students interviewed Former CIA Director Robert Gates, collected information from former President George H.W. Bush and spoke with CIA agents David Forden, Peter Earnest, Aris Pappas and Les Griggs, who were involved in the almost 10 year operation to bring democracy to Poland. The students will have their exhibit on display at the Polish Embassy in Washington, DC on Wednesday June 14.

FINDING WORLD HISTORY AT HOME – Lena Carleton from Washington, DC discovered her family history during the course of his research on the Warsaw Ghetto. She was surprised to learn that her grandfather had spent time in the Ghetto during WWII. She gained a lot of personal insight about everyday horrors of the Holocaust from interviews with her grandfather, who shared stories with his granddaughter that he had not told anyone. As a result, Carleton is volunteering at the U.S. Holocaust Museum and wants to do an outreach program to educate others, including students, about the Holocaust. “One thing I took away from this project was how amazing it was that, living in the horrible conditions that they were in, and against all odds, the Jews managed to form the first organized civilian revolt against the Nazis,” said Carleton.

TELLING TALES OF HEROISM - Kari Broder of Scottsdale, Ariz., recounts the heroism of the Tuskegee Airmen during WWII in her NHD documentary. Broder tells the stories of these extraordinary African-American in a series of interviews with Col. Ashby, a retired Airman, and other African-Americans airmen trained in Tuskegee. Broder’s research tells this tale from a moving personal perspective.

ENDING SEGREGATION - Erin Jayes of Washington, DC explored some of her local history to create a paper on segregation protests at the Glen Echo Amusement Park, Maryland in the summer of 1960. She was able to attend the reunion of the 1960 protesters and weaves their firsthand accounts with fact gathered from park rangers, historians and newspaper accounts of the events.

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• Iowa Student Wins Grand Prize at National History Competition 2006-06-16
• Students Make History 2006-06-06