HHS Sends Five to NHD State Finals
Huntington High School students turned in a strong performance at the National History Day regionals at Hofstra University. Huntington's top five finishers are headed to the state finals in Cooperstown late next month.
This year's National History Day theme is "Turning Points in History: People, Ideas, Events." The initiative seeks to make history more relevant for students and requires them to use a variety of practical and creative skills during the development of their projects.
Competing in the group performance category, Huntington's Julianna Barca and Gabriella Mandriota won first place for Going Steady: A Post-War American Phenomena. The well-acted historical show captured the imagination of the judges.
Huntington's Molly Brambil, Megan Healy and Caitlin Yabroudy earned second place in the group website category for their exceptional research on the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire as a Turning Point for Worker's Rights and the trio's high tech presentation of the material.
Huntington students also won three prestigious special awards at the Long Island regional, including:
Outstanding Entry on a Citizen Activist
Nina Cartwright, Alexandra Koumas and Sabrina Palacios were honored by Hofstra's Center for Civic Engagement for their group website on The Jungle: Exposing the Wild Side of American Industry.
Outstanding Entry on Women's History
Natalie Lanzisero and Emily Maggio earned accolades from the Long Island Council for the Social Studies for their group documentary on I Love Lucy and Perceptions of Women.
Outstanding Entry on African-American History
Alyson Baker and Emily Saltman were recognized by Long Island History Day for their group documentary on the Tuskegee Experiments: Bad Blood or Bad Ethics.
The impressive showing at Hofstra pleased social studies teacher Lauren Desiderio, who coordinates Huntington High School's National History Day program. "We had many outstanding projects this year," she said. "Some students began their research last summer."
"The quality of the projects produced by participating students is unparalleled," Huntington Superintendent James W. Polansky said. "These students are beyond passionate about the topics they researched and the subject matter in general. I applaud their hard work and commitment, as well as the efforts put forth by Ms. Desiderio in providing them with ongoing guidance and encouragement. It is genuinely exciting for Huntington to be a part of the competitive process!"
Participation in the National History Day competition at Huntington High School has exploded over the years as students take up the challenge of performing major historical research over a period of many months.
"Each year, more than half a million students, encouraged by thousands of teachers nationwide participate in the National History Day contest," according to the NHD website. "Students choose historical topics related to a theme and conduct extensive primary and secondary research through libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews and historic sites. After analyzing and interpreting their sources and drawing conclusions about their topics' significance in history, students present their work in original papers, websites, exhibits, performances and documentaries."
The New York State Historical Association is sponsoring the state finals in Cooperstown. The top finishers there will advance to the Kenneth E. Behring National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park in June.