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History Day winners head to national event
Herald-Tribune
Because of their diligence, a group of Fort Scott students will be taking a trip to the University of Maryland in College Park, Md., in June.
On Saturday, April 25, three students from Fort Scott High School and 10 students from Fort Scott Christian Heights competed in the State History Day competition and won the right to participate in the National History Day competition in June. According to Megan Felt from the Lowell Milken Center, the national history day event involves competitors throughout the United States.
"The national competition involves the top 2,000 students from across the nation, from over 700,000 who compete in order to advance from local to state to national competition," Felt said.
Two FSCH students Nathan Davolt, grade 11, and Beth Hill, grade 9, both said they were excited to find out that they would be able to advance to the national competition.
"I'm still somewhat in a state of shock," Davolt said. "After looking at our competition at state, I thought that we had very little chance of winning. After they called our names, I almost couldn't breathe."
Hill said, "I felt awed and amazed and excited because we had chosen to do an exhibit board and that particular category is very competitive."
According to FSHS senior Reanda Mims, whose team won first place for its senior division group performance titled "Recipe for Legacy: 35mm and a Wide-Angle Lens," the group is being allowed to move into the national competition because of the amount of effort they put into the performance.
"We feel the emotion in our parts, and we become our characters to give it deeper meaning," Mims said.
For 11th grade FSCH student Austin Hansen, the ability to answer the judges' questions with ease is one reason he and team members Jake Hansen and Nathan Davolt won first place for their senior division Web site titled "Henryk Slawik: The Man that Saved Thousands."
"I believe we had a good layout that was easy to follow and our story was enticing to read," Austin said. "I think that all of our easy-going natures aided us in answering the judges questions."
Having a group made up of diverse talents allows each of them to bring something important to the project, according to FSCH ninth grader Theresa Schafer.
"I think that our group works very well together," Schafer said. "Each of us has different areas of expertise, and we used all our talents to succeed in history day."
Schafer and fellow students Marcus Page, David Cox and Elizabeth Wallace were awarded second place for their senior division group performance, "Cyclone in Calico: A Nation in Her Wake".
FSCH ninth grade student Beth Hill said her team, comprised of Kaitlyn Arnold, Alex Arnold and herself, earned second place in the senior division exhibit board category for their board titled "Barney Ford: The Black Baron of Colorado" because of the project they chose and the team's ability to answer questions about their board.
"A couple of reasons that our project excelled may be that we chose to do an unsung hero," Hill said, "and our group is very good at answering questions together."
The amount of work the local students put into their projects could have contributed to their success, according to FSHS 10th grade student Keenan Gregory and FSHS 11th grade student Grant Stucky.
"(Thoroughly researching the project was) very important," Gregory said. "Much of our performance is based on primary sources, events and quotes.
Stucky said, "Research, I believe, is the most important part of our project. If we had not done a good job of researching Will Count's story, we would not have been able to portray his story properly."
An FSCH ninth grade student, Elizabeth Wallace said to create a successful history day project, she and her team had to devote a lot of time to its creation.
"We spend a lot of time working on our project," Wallace said. "It takes days and days of working. We have to work outside of school at people's houses. We had several nights where we would be at school until past midnight working on our skit and others working on their projects. Since we have done history day before, it didn't take us as much time to figure out how to do what we needed done, but it is still something that will never be perfected."
Al-though the students have already spent many hours working on their projects, according to FSCH student Marcus Page, 10th grade, their jobs are not complete yet.
"We need to fine tune some details with our performance and work on answering judges' questions more as a group," Page said.
According to Jacob Hansen, FSCH ninth grade student, the history day projects have also helped enrich him as a student.
"It has helped me understand how little the Jews were given during the Holocaust and exactly what the people who tried to stop the Holocaust went through."
For Mims, the history day project has instilled within her a desire to learn.
"It (history day project) has made me love learning," Mims said. "It's fun learning about what you want to know about instead of getting something assigned to you. You pick your topic; you pick what you want to learn, and you present it the way you want to."
Both Hill and Cox said participating in history day has helped to boost their confidence, and Schafer and Davolt said the project helped them understand the ways they can be of help to others.
"Our topic was about a rescuer during the Holocaust," Davolt said. "This really opened my eyes to look past the small part of the country that I live in and see the whole world. This has helped me to understand the Holocaust more and also to see that one person can change the world."
"Last year," Schafer said, "my topic was a Holocaust survivor. She taught me that no matter how the world or the people in it treat you, you must always respond in love. This year's topic, a civil war nurse, inspired me to always stand up for what I know is right and never give up. These are life lessons that have altered my look on life."
Austin said he would encourage more students to get involved in history day in the coming years.
"It is an incredible opportunity to be able to participate in this event, and I encourage all students to try and be involved," Austin said.
According to Felt, a students' participation in history day enhances their scholastic abilities in various ways.
"History day encourages students to express their knowledge of and interests in history through creative and original dramatic performances, media presentations, historical papers, Web site design or three dimensional exhibit projects," Felt said. "The research and study for district, state and national competition goes throughout the entire school year."