History to Come Alive at Competition
This year’s National History Day competition will culminate with presentations and awards on Tuesday, January 12 at 7 p.m. in the School Heritage Museum at Huntington High School. Community members are invited to attend.
Students will be on hand to answer questions about their entries and historical displays. A documentary will be presented, too. A festive awards ceremony will follow. This year’s event has drawn dozens of high school and middle school entries.
Huntington’s National History Day club is led by teacher-advisor Lauren Desiderio. Next week’s competition will feature more than 40 students vying against each other in a half-dozen categories adhering to the national theme, “Innovation: Impact and Change.”
“This year's theme is great because it allows the students to choose a topic they are truly interested in as long as it was an innovation,” Ms. Desiderio said. “Some student topics include blue jeans, the shopping cart, the lunar module, the atomic bomb, the assembly line and the submarine.”
“I am very excited about the awards night and the participation and interest we have seen in the History Day club this year,” Ms. Desiderio said. “The club plans on holding a bake sale in January. We hope to raise money for next year and offer scholarships to individuals or groups to offset some of the expenses that go into creating such amazing projects. We also hope to volunteer during the second semester by working with groups in the town.”
The annual 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.”
Participants have spent dozens of hours creating their projects, with most working late into the night and over weekends. A new area has been added to the sprawling competition in 2010. “It is the first year that students are taking advantage of the website category,” Ms. Desiderio said. “Six projects will be in website form. The tenth grade honors students have been working hard on this project since the summer.”
Ms. Desiderio holds a BA in politics and history and an MA in teaching and foundations, earning both at Fairfield University. Prior to coming to Huntington, she was Fairfield’s assistant field hockey coach and the academic assistant for Fairfield’s programs for student athletes.
This year Ms. Desiderio is teaching Global History 10 Regents, Global History 10 Honors, economics and psychology. She also teaches in the alternative high school program on an as needed basis. In the past she has taught the Global History ESL course. She’s also co-advisor for the freshman club and she coaches high school field hockey, as well as coaching with the U.S. Field Hockey Association.
Ms. Desiderio said she is “very proud” that the nearly four dozen NHD entries include six of her Regents students. “In the past it has usually just been honors and AP students that enter and participate in this competition,” she said.
A contingent of students from J. Taylor Finley Middle School will also be among the entrants, competing on the junior level. Finley teacher Esmeralda Tello and Ms. Desiderio joined forces to get the younger students motivated. “I think their dedication and pride in their work will be displayed on January 12th,” Ms. Desiderio said.
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