GOOD NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

National History Day Competition Still Going Strong

By EMILY HILBERT
ONEONTA

SUNY Oneonta hosted the New York State level of the National History Day competition in mid-April. This is an annual event that allows students from grades 6-8 (Junior level), and 9-12 (Senior level) to research a historic topic which can then be presented in any of five ways: documentaries, exhibitions, performances, websites, and papers. The majority of these can be done either as an individual or with a group of two to five students, with papers being the exception, as individual only. Primary and secondary sources are required for all research, which is centered on an annual theme. This year, in recognition of NHD’s 50th anniversary, the theme was “Turning Points In History.”

Themes are intentionally open-ended to allow for students to interpret them however they see fit, and this was reflected in the wide variety of topics displayed. Everything from the launch of Sputnik, to the invention of the x-ray, to the Bolshevik revolution, and even the Newsies Strike of 1899.

Students were in high spirits and the look of determination to demonstrate knowledge they acquired after months of research was shared across the board. Cindy Falk, assistant dean of graduate studies at SUNY Oneonta, served as one of the many judges for the event, and said that it was “so exciting to see so many young people from around the state do such good work on a wide variety of topics.”

Cosette Veeder-Shave, a second-year student at the Cooperstown Graduate Program and also a judge for the event, added that “it was a wonderful opportunity to hear from young people and see the projects that they had been working on. I enjoyed learning from them and being a part of their journey.”

Due to this event being a state-level competition, the projects presented had already won awards at the local and regional levels. Students are allowed some tweaks as they move up the ladder to nationals, but once the projects reach the judging room, nothing is allowed to change. Even if an object falls off an exhibit, it is not permitted to be put back up.

Judges performed their duties, and each group had the responsibility of ranking the projects from one to five, with one being the top, and five being the lower end. The top two projects of each first round would continue to the final round of judging. Then the top two projects of those finalists would be invited to participate in the national level of the competition, which will occur in June.

The whole day ran from about 7 a.m., with judge check-in beginning at 7:30 a.m., to about 6:30 p.m. Definitely a long day, but Cathy Gorn, executive director of National History Day, commended event organizers on how “smooth and well-run” the day went, how “everyone had a good experience,” and how there were some “very creative and impressive projects” which spanned both “local and national” topics.

Local students Claire Baldo and Parker McManus from Cooperstown Junior/Senior High School, under the guidance of teacher Michelle Hitchcock, made it to the final round in the Junior Group Exhibition for their “Little Rock Nine” exhibit, but will not continue to nationals.

Kara Jones, another second-year student at the CGP and also NHD state coordinator for New York, gave us some of the numbers.

“NYSHD 2024 Contest was a success,” she said. “We had nearly 400 students from all across the state compete with their research projects supporting the theme of ‘Turning Points in History.’ Topics ranged from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and Brown verses the Board of Education, to the invention of the bifocals and Barbie.”

Jones also commented enthusiastically on the presence of Gorn, saying that it was “such a treat!”