Student competition brings history to life
 
By Lindsey Geisler
Special to The Capital-Journal
Published Sunday, February 25, 2007

ON TO STATE

Junior papers

First place: David Wang, Topeka Collegiate

Second place: Kale Stone, Cair Paravel-Latin School

Senior papers

First place: Elaine Davis, Seaman High School

Second place: Brett Yingling, Seaman High School

Junior individual projects

First place: Nick Gideon, Topeka Collegiate

Second place: Daniel Kennedy, Topeka Collegiate

Junior group projects

First place: Bailey Evans and Colby Beardmore, Topeka Collegiate

Second place: Tessa Graf, Liz Dobbins and Amanda Bradley, Logan Junior High School

Senior individual projects

First place: Zack Bahr, Seaman High School

Second place: Meghann Stirton, Seaman High School

Senior group projects

First place: LeAnn Meyer, Morgan Reed, Jarrod Simons and Dillon Artzer, Seaman High School

Second place: Sarah Gillespie and Jordan Boyd, Seaman High School

Junior individual performances

First place: Shelby Carpenter, Topeka Collegiate

Second place: Emma DePriest, McLouth Middle School

Junior group performances

First place: Nyalia Lui and Soren Lamb, Topeka Collegiate

Second place: Joyce Brennan, Colton Manley and Alessandra Politi, Topeka Collegiate

Senior group performance

First place: Chris Littrell and Ashley Henderson, Seaman High School

Junior individual documentaries

First place: Kayla Dubois, Washburn Rural Middle School

Second place: Elsa Goossen, Washburn Rural Middle School

Junior group documentaries

First place: Tanner Horst and Joseph Barber, Topeka Collegiate

Second place: Elizabeth Melton, Emily White and Dale Williams, Washburn Rural Middle School

Senior individual documentaries

First place: Ryan Aeschliman, Shawnee Heights Senior High School

Second place: Joseph Randol, Seaman High School

Senior group documentaries

First place: Ariele Brownfield and Amanda Akin, Seaman High School

Second place: Krystal Buchanan and Rachel Alexander, Seaman High School

 Article

Anne Boleyn, Harry Truman and the founders of McDonald's put in an appearance Saturday at Washburn University.

The historical figures were part of performances by students for the regional History Day competition.

Rachel Goossen, Washburn history professor and District 3 coordinator for National History Day-Kansas, said students can participate in four categories — paper, project, performance or documentary.

"There's so much latitude in what they can research and how they can present it," she said.

This year's theme, "Triumph and Tragedy in History," let participants choose virtually anything in history to research.

"The creative part is then how are you going to link it to the theme," Goossen said.

Zack Bahr, a Seaman High School junior who won the senior individual project category, put together a project called "The Wubulous World of Dr. Seuss."

"I was just thinking of a person I knew really little about," he said of how he chose his topic.

Bahr said his project talked about how Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Geisel, also wrote on social and political issues. He also said Seuss' first book was rejected 27 times before a friend published it.

National History Day began sometime in the 1970s. Kansas' District 3, which includes several counties in northeast Kansas, started holding its competition 25 years ago and has shown considerable growth. About 15 students participated that first year, compared to more than 300 this year.

The competition is divided up into two age categories — junior for grades six through eight and senior for grades nine through 12. Individual students can write research papers, but students can work as individuals or groups on display projects, performances or documentaries.

Whatever they choose, students spend months researching, writing scripts and putting together annotated bibliographies. Participants also must prepare to defend their entry to the judges and how it relates to the theme.

"The level of scholarship is really rigorous in this program," Goossen said.

The first- and second-place winners in each category move on to the state competition April 28 at Washburn. State winners will compete at the 2007 National History Day Competition June 10-14 at the University of Maryland in College Park.