What a day it was for judging!

Today Maryland’s Senior division (high school) competitors squared off against their counterparts from across the nation and world—including Alaska and Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Department of Defense schools in Europe, and international schools in Asia.

I was able to check out a few of our students’ performances and documentaries and was blown away with the quality of their work—and the energy among the students and their families was infectious. I also had the opportunity to meet the contest’s most generous supporter, Kenneth E. Behring. (more…)

Monday was a big-Big-BIG day at National History Day for students in the Junior Division. Nearly 1300 middle school contestants competed for a slot in the final judging rounds, to be held Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.

The morning started early for the Maryland delegation, with Will Bury from Plum Point Middle School in Calvert County, prepped for interviews with Fox DC Television and the Baltimore Sun. Before the interviews, Will had an important decision—what tie to wear. Will’s lucky red tie is adorned with dinosaurs and his exhibit, “Building a Better Chicken,” is about innovations of the Delmarva Chicken industry—you know some people believe chickens evolved from dinosaurs and might the judges see the dinosaur tie as a “costume,” prohibited by the National History Day rules? Will decided to take a risk and wear his lucky tie to the interviews. Lucky indeed, because his interviews went great!

Our Maryland students were terrific—confident about their projects and well-prepared to talk to the judges. A few highlights:
•    Natalie Behrends’ performance, “Assembly Line Production in the 1950s,”  included a series of quick costume changes (Eastern Middle School, Montgomery County)
•    Katherine Snee, explained her group exhibit “Kodak on a Roll”  (Piccowaxen Middle School, Charles County)
•    Lauren Sheranko and Brenna Will performed of “Tale of a Telegraph,” costumed as a telegraph key and various historical personages, including Samuel Morse. (Southern Middle School, Calvert County)
•    Muftiat Ogunsanya’s presented her documentary, “The Impact of X-Rays, CAT Scans and MRIs on Medical Diagnosis,” ( Murray Hill Middle School, Howard County)

As Monday closed, results in performance and documentary categories were posted. While no Maryland students were selected for the final judging round, each student represented Maryland well!  It was a very good day!

John D. Willard V
Maryland History Day Outreach Coordinator

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Greetings from this year’s National History Day contest! Maryland’s 55 participants have arrived and begun to register, set up their exhibits, and swap buttons with students from each of the other states. Despite some intense humidity, the students have been bubbling with enthusiasm.

The annual Maryland delegation reception was a success in its new location: the air conditioned Tydings Hall. Almost 100 students, parents, siblings and teachers stopped by to enjoy refreshments, meet other Maryland participants, get some last-minute coaching from Mr. John Willard, and pick up a History Day teddy bear. Among the guests were Mack Godfrey of Columbia Gas of Maryland, who drove from Pittsburgh to judge at the contest for the 16th year, as well as Susan Hottle-Schultz of St. Mary’s School in Annapolis, one of Maryland’s two Behring Teachers of the Year.

A “special guest” was announced at the opening awards ceremony; the guest is actually one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence on loan from Norman Lear.  The document, one of only 25 known to exist, will be displayed Monday through Wednesday.

The national competition officially kicked off with a festive, brief opening ceremony. Jim Leach, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (and a visitor to the MHC offices this spring), spoke about the role of history in contemporary decision-making and the importance of historical studies in these students’ future endeavors.

Competition is stiff and tension is high at the National History Day competition at University of Maryland, College Park!

On Tuesday, advancers in the junior division were announced and two Marylanders were among them. Ryan Burton from Milton Somers Middle School in Charles County advanced his documentary on Benjamin O. Davis. (more…)

Fifty Maryland students–accompanied by History Bears–are competing for honors in the National History Day competition at the University of Maryland, College Park. They (students, not bears) submitted research papers, documentaries, websites, exhibits, and performances for judging—competing with students from across the nation to take home awards and scholarships. Winners will be announced on Thursday, so root for your favorite student, school, and county for the next few days and look for an announcement on Friday about our Maryland winners! (more…)

Why do they call it “research” and not just “search” or “looking something up?”

That’s because the research process is just that–a process–not something that can be accomplished in one sitting, or at the last minute.

Research means that you have to try diverse types of sources, such as journals, magazines, photographs, websites, databases, newspapers, and books. You also have to approach a topic from many angles, trying to get all sides of the story. Research implies that you have to dig deeper than just the surface level of information. You have to take more than one look!

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