LBMS students dig into past world events for National History Day contest
Catherine Vawter (from left) with Carolyn Litak and Bill Dunham. (Photo by Roger Brandt)
From our weekly issue dated March 12, 2008
National History Day competition was held at Lorna Byrne Middle School Tuesday, March 4 to decide which entries would be selected to represent Illinois Valley at the state and possibly the national History Day Competition.
Charlotte Baker, of LBMS, helped organize the event on behalf of Lacey Fox and Julie Barnes, the history teachers for seventh- and eighth-grades.
The program is set up to engage students in a series of competitions with the winner advancing to the next level. The competition at LBMS was the first of this series with the top finishers of each category advancing to state-level competition. At the state contest, the first and second places in each category are eligible to go to the national contest held each June at the University of Maryland near Washington, D.C.
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This year’s competition was a little different than others held at the school.
“In the past, it was set up for students who elected to participate,” explained Fox. “They would have some class time to work on their project, and the rest of the work would be done at home.
“However, this year we tried a different approach with one class from the seventh-grade and another from the eighth-grade being selected to participate and each student in the class selecting a project to work on,” she said.
This was a particularly difficult approach for Julie Barnes, who has 36 students. Both teachers feel that exposure to the process was perhaps the most important lesson learned by the students. This made the effort worthwhile from their perspective.
The National History Day program is intended to be used as a meaningful way for students to study historical issues by engaging in historical research. The intention is to develop essential life skills in critical-thinking and problem-solving that will help them manage and use information now and in the future.
“These projects demanded a challenging and sophisticated process for the students,” said Fox.
Some students worked on individual projects while others formed teams to develop theirs. A total of 16 entries were completed for judging. The theme for all the entries was “Conflict and Compromise in History.”
At a display on the Berlin Wall, Miranda Stiles noted that it went around the entire western portion of Berlin.
“I had no idea the wall was so extensive,” said Carlolyn Litak, one of the judges. Miranda went on to reveal the fact that the west side of the wall was covered with graffiti, but the east side, the side facing the Soviet-held portion of the city, had no writing.
The discussion with Miranda sparked a lively discussion among judges. And the scene of lively discussion and sharing was relived at all the displays as students reversed roles with adults: The students became the teachers and the adults the students.
“I am really proud of what these kids have done,” said one of the judges.
Most of the entries addressed historic events that were significant in world or U.S. history. Only two of the entries, one by Catherine Vawter, and the other by Brian and Jamie Sowell, were about subjects in Josephine County history.
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Catherine did her display on the Rogue River Conflict, the Native American war in Southwestern Oregon. She provided judges with an almost flawless recital, from memory, of landmarks in the war that was fought from the upper reaches of the Rogue River to where it empties into the sea at present-day Gold Beach.
“It is a sad story,” she said, adding that the conflict was started in part by competition for land.
“I think there would have been less of a conflict if there had been better communication between the two sides,” she concluded.
Jamie and Brian Sowell did their display on the Red Buttes Wilderness Conflict.
“You could tell they were really fascinated with this topic,” said Cate Bendock. She added that one of their relatives had been involved in getting the wilderness established. Their topic was about the conflict between different recreation groups that wanted to use it.
According to Bendock, the Sowells had a great deal of insight about the history and issues behind the conflict.
“I asked if they thought the conflict was over,” said Bendock, “and they replied that it wasn’t.” They were not sure how to resolve the conflict, but they thought that raising people’s awareness and providing educational information would help.
“Your documentary is a good start,” Bendock replied.
One of the other documentaries, by Mason LaFlamme and Brandon Parker, was about the Battle of the Bulge.
“Both boys did a great job on this,” commented Bendock. “They were surprisingly well informed, and their documentary included an interview with a person who had been in the battle.”
She also commented about other projects she had reviewed during her duties as a contest judge including the Website about the Vietnam War and another on the Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb in Japan. The display about the War on Drugs was very insightful,” she said.
“They took on such a huge topic and made very good points,” Bendock said. “I hope they can finish the project and get extra credit.”
Bendock concluded by saying, “All the students were wonderful and very professional, and I could tell they put a lot of time and effort to their work.” She hopes this program continues.
All the judges who reviewed the History Day project were valley residents. Besides Bendock and Litak, they were Dennis Strayer, Cory Fox, Roger Brandt, Larry Smith, Lynn Smith, Sandy Wilson, and Bill Dunham.
