EP students advance to National History Day state competition

Thirteen Central Middle School (CMS) seventh graders recently qualified for the National History Day state competition, and several CMS students received honorable mentions at the Metro Junior Regionals event held March 2 at CMS. 

Often described as like a science fair, but for history, National History Day has students create projects around an annual theme, either as an individual or a group. This year’s theme is “Turning Points in History.”

The five project categories are website, documentary, exhibit, performance, and paper. Students research and create their projects, then present them to a panel of judges, who then interview them about their research. 

Projects are rated on points such as historical argument, wide research including primary sources, historical context and accuracy, and significance in history. They are also rated on the technical quality of their projects, as well as on student voice. 

CMS teacher Eric Hanson said 90 of his seventh grade advanced social studies students created a History Day project this year, and 31 entered projects into the regionals competition. 

Although CMS has been teaching the History Day curriculum for several years, this is only Hansen’s third year teaching it. He credited former colleagues who have since retired, Karen Nelson and Patti Cwodzinski, for mentoring him in the curriculum when he began.

“To have some of my students moving on to state is so exciting,” he said. “I’m proud of them for sticking with it and advancing.”

Hansen said the History Day program has had many benefits for his students. Although the process of choosing a topic, learning to research, and creating a project that demonstrates their learning was important for students, Hanson said that some of the things not measured in the grade book or on the competition rubric were equally as valuable.

“Having to ride the highs and lows of a long-term research project (we exclusively worked on the History Day Project the entire second quarter), managing short- and long-term deadlines, collaborating with their peers, and for some, learning new technologies to produce their final product, and having to go through the judging experience at the regional competition are all things that they will be able to take with them through the rest of their educational journey,” he said.

He added, “I tell them, if they can survive the ups and downs of the seventh grade History Day project, they can do just about anything moving forward in their academic careers.”

Due to competition entry limits, not everyone can advance to the regional competition from the school round. However, Hansen said, “I am always impressed with the work that all my students do on this project, and it is great to see some of them found success at the regional competition and will represent CMS in the upcoming state competition.”

CMS state qualifiers, honorable mentions

Six CMS projects qualified for state, and five CMS projects were recognized at the regionals awards ceremony with honorable mentions.

Students advancing to state will be able to make changes to their projects.

“They will be reviewing the judges’ evaluations from the regional competitions and refining their projects over the next few weeks to improve where needed,” Hansen said. “I know several of my students who made it to regionals did some extensive revisions prior to the regional competition, so they are just refining at this point.”

CMS state qualifiers are: 

Noah Binnie and Brady Patten: Junior Group Documentary, “Gone with the Contracts: The Olivia de Havilland Lawsuit.”

Saanvi Jonnalagadda, Junior Individual Exhibit, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

Hershey Bharadwaj, Shagun Khatri, and Jay Miettunen, Junior Group Website, “The Boston Massacre.”

Savannah Bothern and Alexis Sorensen, Junior Group Exhibit, “Title IX.”

Sadie Buth, Junior Individual Documentary, “September 11: The Twin Towers.”

Sarah Zhou, Junior Individual Website, “Insulin: The Discovery that Changed Diabetes.”

CMS students who earned honorable mentions are:

Chelsea Kunach, Junior Individual Documentary, “‘Let’s Do the Time Warp Again’: How the Rocky Horror Picture Show Became a Turning Point in Cinema.”

Rishit Singh, Junior Individual Website, “The Space Race.”

Yukino Kazama, Junior Individual Exhibit, “The Blueprint for Educational TV: Sesame Street.”

Alexis Swift and Ingrid Nodland, Junior Group Exhibit, “Mickey Mouse: Revolutionizing Animation.”

Aanvi Nandakumar and Hasini Dharmireddy, Junior Group Exhibit, “Ryan White and the Fight Against HIV.”

The state competition for junior and senior categories will occur on April 20 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The public is welcome to attend this free event and view the many projects on display.