On Sunday, April 27, students part of the National History Day club traveled to Richmond to compete in the State competition. According to the National History Day website at an NHD contest, students present their work to judges, who give all students feedback on their work and select projects to advance to the next level of the competition. Between contest levels, students are encouraged to revise their project based on what they have learned and the judges’ feedback.
Sarah Edgar was a freshman who attended the state competition. She and her partner, Liesl Niebur, who is also a freshman, competed in the competition in the Senior Group Website section. Edgar describes her project that she presented at the competition.
“We created a website about the Shenandoah National Park land grab, which involved a blanket land condemnation and subsequent eviction of residents to make way for the establishment of the national park,” Edgar said.
Edgar then describes how they placed in the competition.
“We didn’t receive any special awards or monetary prizes, but we did place 2nd in our category overall, which means that we qualified for the national competition this summer!” Edgar said.
This is the third year in a row that Edgar has been to nationals and it is Niebur’s second year as they
competed throughout middle school.
Ru Bucy and Luke Eichholz also competed at the state competition. Their project was about Tuskegee Airmen, and how they fought discrimination. Bucy explains the award they earned during the competition.
“We won the Aviation Award, which gave us each 250 dollars and a year membership to the Military Aviation museum in Virginia Beach, as well as 100 dollars to our supporting teacher, Ms. Williamson,” Bucy said.
Bucy then concludes with his experience at the competition and his favorite memory.
“I really enjoyed the state competition this year, as there were many different exhibits and presentations that we could see at the Museum of History and Culture at Richmond. I think my favorite memory from the competition this year was when we won the award during the award ceremony, as it was a great accomplishment to receive it,” Bucy said.
Another student who attended the state competition was Grant Swenty, who is a freshman. Swenty won the Mary Bicouvaris Award in Virginia History with his project about the history of gold mining in Virginia from Jamestown to the beginning of World War II. He was awarded a $50 prize and came 4th in the senior individual exhibit category.
Edgar and Niebur will be attending the National History Day national competition on June 9-10 at the University of Maryland, College Park. Congratulations to the students who competed in this year’s state competition and good luck to those attending nationals this summer!
