Middle School and High School teams from Kutztown recently returned from the national competition for National History Day, bringing home second and eighth place awards.
“I am so proud of the students and adults who work so hard for this achievement!” said Superintendent Kathy Metrick. “This is the national competition, but there are actually teams from other countries there, as well. Our students demonstrate that, on an international level, we are small, but we are mighty.”
What does this say about Kutztown students?
“That they are hard working and resourceful. They know that anything is possible and their performance shows that,” said Metrick.
Offering comments for the History Day teams, she said, “We are so proud of your hard work and dedication that took you so far!”
For the community, Metrick said, “Kutztown Area School District is supported by a proud, hard-working community. Our students’ performances reflect their roots.”
High School TeamsHannah Walker and Maya Workowski for their Senior Group Exhibit titled The Crusader with a Camera: Photography and Light up Ignorance and Expose Ignorance, won 2nd place at the National Competition. At the Regional and State Competitions, they won 1st place.
Krista Kunkle, Casey Kuhns, Patrick Moyer, Tyler Akers for their Senior Group Exhibit titled “Keith Haring: The Radiant Baby Shines On,” they won 8th place at the National Competition and 1st place at Regionals and 2nd place at States.
Emily Burch for her Senior Individual Website titled “A Fight Against Wrong:” Mother Jones As A Labor Leader and Social Reformer, won 2nd place at the Regional Competition.
Tyler Pensyl for his Senior Individual Exhibit titled “The Power of Propaganda: Joseph Goebbels a Propagandist Leader” won first at the Regional Competition.
Abbie Boyer and Samuel Arnold for their Senior Group Website titled “Containment, Response, and Lasting Legacy: The Leadership of Governor Thornburgh and Harold Denton during the Three Mile Island Nuclear Incident” won 1st place and local history award at the Regional Competition.
Middle School TeamsSeventh graders Logan Boyer and Zachary Watson won first place at the regional and state competitions but did not bring home any awards from nations. Their Exhibit was titled “Killing Two Birds with One Stone. Roosevelt’s Tree Army Responds to Environmental and Economic Challenges.”
Sixth graders Julian Tich and Silas Bealer won third place at regionals and second place at states but did not bring any awards from nationals. Their Exhibit was titled “Benjamin Franklin: Leader, Legacy and Revolutionary.”
“Each year more than half a million students participate in National History Day. Students choose a historical topic that relates to the annual theme (this year, Leadership and Legacy) and conduct primary and secondary research on their topic,” said Carolyn Wasser, High School Team adviser and a former student participant in the competition.
“National History Day students spend months, researching in libraries, archives and museums, and conducting interviews with experts and historians. As they research they analyze and interpret their sources, drawing conclusions about the significance of the topic, and present their work in one of five ways: a paper, an exhibit, a performance, a documentary, or a website. Students also create an annotated bibliography and process paper including a summary of their research process and all of the sources that they used. As they create their projects the students become researchers, developers, thinkers, and experts,” said Wasser.
She explained that students can participate in three levels of competition: Regionals, States, and Nationals where they are interviewed by judges about their project’s significance and meet other students who share their love for history.
“This year I think the thing that the students enjoyed most was doing hands-on research. Students researched at the National Archives, Library of Congress, Pennsylvania State Archives, Historical Society of Philadelphia, and the Catholic University of America Archives. When they were at these libraries and archives they got to hold in their hands documents that were over 200 years old, that shaped and changed history,” said Wasser.
These students also got to conduct interviews with historians and experts, she said.
“Hannah and Maya were able to interview men and women who labored in coal mines and mills when they were younger while Zach and Logan interviewed men that helped build dams, shelters, roads, and national parks when they participated in the Civilian Conservation Corps. Abbie and Samuel interviewed Harold Denton and Governor Richard Thornburgh in order to understand the events and impact of the Three Mile Island nuclear incident. Casey, Tyler, Patrick, and Krista interviewed Keith Haring’s family. History Day is teaching students to conduct oral histories and learn history from the people who witnessed it themselves,” said Wasser.
This year Hannah Walker, Maya Workowski, Krista Kunkle, Casey Kuhns, Patrick Moyer, Tyler Akers, Zach Watson, Logan Boyer, Silas Bealer, and Julian Tich advanced to the National Competition in College Park, Maryland, said Wasser.
Kutztown students shared their projects with more than 3,000 students and their parents and teachers who gathered at the University of Maryland, for the week-long event. The students came from all over the United States, Guam, American Samoa, Department of Defense Schools in Puerto Rico, and international schools in China, Korea, and South Asia, according to Wasser.
“There was so much excitement for history across campus! After spending months researching and preparing for the competition, students were eager to show off and share their hard work,” she said.
Wasser noted that the Keith Haring exhibit had the opportunity to display their exhibit at the Smithsonian American History Museum for the day. Later this year, “Killing Two Birds with One Stone” and “The Crusader with a Camera” will be displaying their projects at the Pennsylvania State Museum.
Middle school team adviser Rebecca Beidelman said while researching Ben Franklin, Silas and Julian got to handle, without gloves, letters and manuscripts written in Franklin’s own hand.
“Franklin came alive,” said Beidelman. “As they learned more about him, he became human, with faults and quirks. They grew to admire the man, not just the history about him.”
Beidelman hopes they learned a couple of lessons from participating in National History Day.
“I hope they learned that history is real and finding the truth takes hard work and determination. I hope they learned to discern fact from fiction. I hope they do it again,” she said.
Beidelman said the Middle Schoolers were all first time competitors.
“They went to Nationals wide-eyed newbies and came away ready to be fierce competitors next year. The day after judging, they were already discussing next year’s topic and what they would like to do and what kind of display they could create,” said Beidelman. “Unless someone has actually been to Nationals, they have no idea the scope of the competition nor the exacting expectations. Having said that; the competitors are from all over the country and the world. Once the competition part of the day was over, kids who just competed against each other were throwing frisbee, playing board games, discussing topics, talking about building displays, people they interviewed or just being kids.”
“I was a newbie to Nationals, too,” she added. “Now I understand why once you’ve been bitten by the National History Day bug, you’re a life long fan. I look forward to integrating the NHD skills and philosophy into my teaching.”
For more information about National History Day, visit http://www.nhd.org/.
