Emilea Gilbert and Julianna Trudden, both eighth-grade students at Genoa Middle School and Fraser Hartnell, a sixth-grader at Walnut Springs Middle School, will represent Westerville City Schools in the National History Day contest from June 12 to 16.
All three advanced from the statewide National History Day in Ohio contest that was held April 23. Emily Ward, an eighth-grader at Genoa, placed third for her paper, “Treaty of Versailles: Was it Really a Treaty?” in the statewide competition but did not move on to the national contest. Walnut Springs sixth-grader Layla Hammer also competed in the statewide contest, which featured entries from more than 250 students throughout Ohio.
As part of History Day, students conduct research as individuals or teams of two based on a theme and create historical papers, original performances, documentaries, creative exhibits and imaginative websites as a result of their research. Through these hands-on experiences, students can deepen their understanding of history to inform the present and shape the future. This year’s theme is “Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences.”
Gilbert and Trudden — both students in Leslie Thompson’s advanced social studies class who worked with Deanna McDaniel, Genoa's media specialist — earned second place in the Junior Group Exhibit category for the exhibit, “Barbed Wire Country.” Their project featured more than 61 primary and secondary sources. They said the best part of the experience was building the project, making the barbed wire, conducting the research and working together.
Hartnell, a student in Jeffrey Holmes’ advanced social studies class, earned first place in the Junior Individual Exhibit category for his research and exhibit project, “The Diplomatic Failures that Sparked WW1 and WW2.” Hartnell spent five months researching and creating his project, which includes more than 40 primary and secondary sources and an annotated bibliography. He said finding the primary sources, documents, and photos was the best and most exciting part of National History Day.
History Day also improves students’ ability to critically read and write about a topic. More than half a million middle and high school students participate annually.
National History Day in Ohio is an affiliate of National History Day. The Ohio Historical Society is the state sponsor of National History Day in Ohio. For more information on National History Day, can be found here.