Congratulations to all the students and teachers who took part in this year’s
National History Day Contest!
National History Day is a nationwide contest in which over half a million students participate throughout the year. “Students choose historical topics related to a theme and conduct extensive primary and secondary research through libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews and historic sites. After analyzing and interpreting their sources and drawing conclusions about their topics’ significance in history, students present their work in original papers, websites, exhibits, performances and documentaries.” (source: nhd.org)
Extra special congratulations to our Tennessee representatives! The awards ceremony took place this morning (June 19, 2014) and I’m pleased to announce that Tennessee won two medals and a special award.
Ibtihal Malley from Pleasant View School, Memphis, won second place for her paper, Palestine: Refugee Rights and International Responsibilities (Category: Junior Individual). Her teacher is Andre Clarke.
Emma Grace Thompson from Berean Christian School Independent Study Program, Knoxville, won first place for her documentary Rough in the Bunch: Appalachia’s Rayon Girls Fight for the Right to Strike (Category: Senior Individual). Her teacher is Sharron Thompson. Emma Grace also received a special “Legacy” award for her documentary.
The standard of work the students produce for this contest is outstanding. I have been a judge for the East Tennessee contest for the last few years and each time I’ve been thoroughly impressed by the quality of research and presentation.
Congratulations again to all participants – – and to the organizers too!
UPDATE: Humanities Tennessee has a wonderfully in-depth story about NHD 2014 on its website here.