Huntington Students Bring History Alive at Annual Competition
History sprung to life at Huntington High School’s annual National History Day competition with an impressive display of intriguing research projects developed by dozens of teenagers who tackled a variety of topics spanning centuries.
The event saw students competing against each other in categories ranging from live theatrical performances and group documentaries to historical papers and individual and group exhibits all adhering to the national theme, “The Individual in History: Actions and Legacies.”
A large crowd consisting of family, friends and school officials packed the School Heritage Museum for this year’s event, which was coordinated by Huntington’s National History Day club headed by faculty advisor and social studies teacher Camille Tedeschi and student-officers Colleen Teubner (president), Caitlin Etri (vice president), Kirsten Freiman (recording secretary), Rebecca Silverman (corresponding secretary) and Anthony Kouttron (treasurer). The crowd included former NHD participant and 2008 valedictorian Madeleine Jensen, who is now a Columbia University freshman.
The competition is designed to “encourage students to explore local, state, national, and world history,” according to the New York History Day website. “After selecting a historical topic that relates to an annual theme, students conduct extensive research by using libraries, archives, museums, and oral history interviews. They analyze and interpret their findings, draw conclusions about their topics' significance in history, and create final projects that present their work. These projects can be entered into a series of competitions, from the local to the national level, where they are evaluated by professional historians and educators.”
"Ms. Tedeschi again outdid herself in running a smooth program which brought together various contributing teachers and projects from a number of sources,” said Joseph Leavy, district director of humanities. “These included her own Honors students, as well as tenth grade honors students from Mr. [Peter] Crugnale's, Ms. [Lauren] Thomas' and Mrs. [Jennifer] Schnitzer's classes. There were also several entries from Mr. [James] Graber's eleventh grade AP students in the historical paper category.”
The top finishers in each category will now advance to the regional competition on Sunday, March 8 at Hofstra University. There they will battle with students from other Long Island high schools to qualify for the state finals on Friday May 1 in Cooperstown. The national championship is slated for June 14-18 at the Univ. of Maryland at College Park.
English teacher and drama club advisor Mike Schwendemann pitched in to help train students participating in individual and group performance categories. "The growth that these young ladies have shown over the past three years is astounding,” he said about the teenagers. “Their historical knowledge coupled with their performance skills bodes well for the competition at Hofstra and beyond."
Among the impressive projects was a pair of historical papers authored by students Kieran Fell (“Robert Peary”) and Ayomide Balogun (“Thomas Jefferson”). "These were some of the finest historical papers I have seen in years and I believe both Ayomide and Kieren have excellent chances to advance from Hofstra on to the state level of competition at Cooperstown," Mr. Graber said.
Competition participants spent dozens of hours creating their projects, with most working late into the night and over weekends. The History Day club meets in the high school library on Monday’s at 3 p.m.
“Participating in National History Day was a rewarding experience due to the fact that I was able to research an American Icon, Andy Warhol,” said student Casey Singer who captured first place in the Individual Exhibit category. “I look forward to moving onto the regional competition”.
Ms. Tedeschi waxed poetic about her tenure as NHD advisor, which is coming to an end. “It has been a great six years and the program has truly grown and matured into an amazing asset to Huntington High School,” she said. “The goal for the future should be to incorporate more schools in the district in the competition. I hope the students take away the skills that I have taught them through this competition and not only apply them to History Day, but to use them as a basis of learning in a variety of areas in the future. I am a lifelong learner and I encourage my students to be the same.”
Ms. Tedeschi will continue to be involved in the program next year, but will pass the torch to Ms. Thomas who will be the new coordinator and advisor for the program.
“History Day is not just a day, it is an experience,” Ms. Tedeschi said. “I was lucky enough to have alumnae Madeleine Jensen attend this year's local event and reflect on her participation in the program and how her research skills have helped her in high school and college. It is so rewarding to know the extent of the impact I have had on such an amazing young woman.”
The top finishers in each category included:
Individual Documentary
1. Nick Shivers - Lewis Hines
2. Ben Jensen - Nelson Mandela
3. Tom Corrao - Winston Churchill
4. Jarrin Dukes - Gandhi
Group Documentary
1. Paul Mazzotta, Mikah Feldman-Stein, Joey Adelmann, Sabina Schneider - Deng Xiao Ping
2. Michelle Byrne, Mary- Liz O’Neill, Carolyn Fante - Dalai Lama
3. Natasha Siegel, Alexa Giammarino - James Watson
4. John Coffey, Adam Cerini - John Lennon
Individual Performance
- Mia Rienzo - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Group Performance
1. Caitlin Etri, Colleen Teubner, Kirtsen Freiman, Rebecca Silverman - Jane Goodall
2. Jonah Kramer, Ally Kiley, Danielle Cerezo, Rebecca Deegan - Sigmund Freud
Individual Exhibit
1. Casey Singer - Andy Warhol
2. Olivia Weller - Paul Rusesebagina
3. Joe Brown - Robert Moses
4. Gini Doherty - Gloria Steinem
Group Exhibit
1. Josh Zimmerman, Tyler Moore - Louis Armstrong
2. Chloe Drace, Sarah Ehrman - Oskar Schindler
3. Patrick Tuohey, Kevin Maier - Leonardo da Vinci
4. Eva Prior, Jasmin Valcourt - Alexander the Great
Historical Paper
1. Kieran Fell – Robert Peary
2. Ayomide Balogun - Thomas Jefferson
3. Anthony Kouttron - John Bardeen
4. Nicolas Maiarelli - Machiavelli
4. Johanna Clifford - Andrew Carnegie
Jack Abrams Local History Award
Joe Brown – Robert Moses
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