National History Day Competition

On Saturday, March 18, 2023 LSE middle schoolers competed in the annual National History Day (NHD) Regionals Competition at the Colorado History Museum. 

For those of you who don’t know what NHD is, it is a non-profit organization whose goal is to help students improve their skills in speech, research, writing, and more. The knowledge the middle school students gain from the program helps prepare them for college and their future careers.

Mr. Scobee gave his insight on how he felt towards this year’s NHD competition, and how the participants are doing. This is what he had to say: 

When asked about this year’s performance compared to past groups, Mr Scobee commented,  “I would say this year we did exceptionally well just because of the amount of people we are sending to state [competition], which I think is sixteen or seventeen. It’s the most we’ve ever sent… they did really phenomenal this year.”   

Considering how the event was held at a history museum–quite fitting for the occasion–Mr. Scobee emphasized how this was his favorite part of Saturday’s competition. He states, “I really, really liked where the event was held at the History Museum because not only did the kids get access to do their National History Day work there, do their presentations, and be judged, but they also got access to the whole museum for the whole day. They got to experience that, so I thought that was really cool.”

Without question, the middle schoolers dominated this year’s event. Upon their great success, Mr. Scobee attributes their shared, accumulative efforts towards this astounding achievement.

Mr. Scobee shares, “Well they got big brains, all of them, but I’d like to think that I probably helped out a little bit. I’ve been doing it for eight years too. So I think that not only should the kids get stronger every year, but I should too as the teacher that’s actually facilitating that process. I think it’s a culmination of me having more knowledge and time with the program, and the kids were really dedicated this year from what I could tell.” 

Three participants were also able to share their thoughts on how they felt about their NHD performances, and on how they are preparing for the upcoming State Competition. This is what they had to say towards the following questions: 

What is the theme for this year and what is your project about? Is it a website, exhibition, paper, performance, or documentary?

Kyla Bauer (Grade 8): “The theme is Frontiers in History, and our topic is William T.G Martin who invented anesthesia; we did an exhibit.”

Abigail Tisdale (Grade 8): “Our topic is Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, frontiersmen in microbiology. He discovered it and we did it on an exhibit.”

Yacqub Ali (Grade 7): “My project is the Woodworth’s Greensboro Sit-in.”

How do you feel about participating in NHD? Do you like it? Why or why not?

Kyla Bauer: “I like it because it’s more of a higher education thing and it’s fun.”

Abigail Tisdale: “I do like it because it’s engaging and I get to collaborate with my friends and learn more about events in history.”

Yacqub Ali: “I like it because it brings out my inner competitiveness and it teaches me about history in a fun way.”

What was your favorite part of the competition held on Saturday, March 18, 2023?

Kyla Bauer: “Hanging out with my friends and also the interview and meeting with the judge, she was really nice, and showing what we know about our project.”

Abigail Tisdale: “It was in a museum so looking around was pretty fun and hanging out with my friends too.”

Yacqub Ali: “The judging process made me very anxious, I was waiting for it to come out and when they called my name I was so happy.”

What are you going to do to prepare for the NHD state competition?

Kyla Bauer: “In preparation, we’re adding a timeline to our project about our subject’s life as well as labeling our board a bit better as that’s what the judge suggested.”

Abigail Tisdale: “We are going to take the improvements we got from the judges and we’re going to add it to our board and redo some things. One of the improvements we got was to add a timeline so we’re going to make one.”

Yacqub Ali: “I’m going to rehearse it [the presentation] a couple times a week and make a few changes in the website.”

For those interested in more information, check out NHD’s official website: https://nhd.org/en/about/