Teenagers Create Ingenious
History Websites

Two dozen Huntington High School students developed ingenious websites that showcased their impressive research for National History Day, a challenging competition that annually draws thousands of participants across the country.

The Huntington students conducted research on the Emancipation Proclamation, the history behind marijuana's prohibition, civil rights and the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, medical experiments conducted in Tuskegee, Alabama, an examination of the Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt Corollary, American Imperialism and the Venezuela crisis of 1902-03, the Treaty of New Echota, Ruby Bridges, Jackie Robinson, America's child labor debate, the Salem witch trials, movies and censorship, the Nazi-Soviet pact in the period leading up to World War II and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

"A historical web site is a collection of web pages, interconnected with hyperlinks, that presents primary and secondary sources, interactive multimedia, and historical analysis," according to a guide for students created by the National History Day organization. "Your web site should be an accumulation of research and argument that incorporates textual and non-textual (photographs, maps, music, etc.) description, interpretation, and multimedia sources to engage and inform viewers about your chosen historical topic."

Huntington students followed the directions perfectly and the results were "awesome," Superintendent John J. Finello said. "It's hard to visit these websites and not be impressed. They offer a wonderful collection of research that's presented in an organized and attractive way."

Students Ryan Lader, Aaron Zimmerman, Christine O'Grady, Kylie Phelan and Collin Richardson earned honors in the local competition at Huntington High School.

Mr. Richardson's website on "Saturday's Child: America's Child Labor Debate," went on to capture first place in the Long Island regional competition at Hofstra University and won the state championship in Cooperstown last week.

The participants and their website addresses include:

• Elizabeth Maldonado and Brittney Robinson-Smikle
http://86522148.nhd.weebly.com

• AJ Phelan and Taylor Iwanicki
http://44880620.nhd.weebly.com

• Kevin Maier and Oliver Lockwood
http://78808771.nhd.weebly.com

• Joey Dillhoff and Brad Dwyer
http://93540750.nhd.weebly.com

• Nitika Shah and Jason Chisolm
http://92288970.nhd.weebly.com

• Lauren Boyce and Richard Morris
http://49084903.nhd.weebly.com

• Nathan Smith and Junior Balogun
http://70314340.nhd.weebly.com/index.html

• Phil Cadorette
http://65203120.nhd.weebly.com

• Cole Cook
http://92452082.nhd.weebly.com

• Collin Richardson
http://31340090.nhd.weebly.com

• Christine O'Grady and Kylie Phelan
http://11785748.nhd.weebly.com