Presentations culmination of year-long research project

Torrington Middle School students share their knowledge in local History Day

Andrew D. Brosig
Posted 2/23/18

Research partners Alyssa Albaugh and Alyssa Wondercheck were visibly nervous Wednesday, waiting as judges looked over a written synopsis of the project they’ve worked on since the first week of September.

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Presentations culmination of year-long research project

Torrington Middle School students share their knowledge in local History Day

Posted
TORRINGTON – Research partners Alyssa Albaugh and Alyssa Wondercheck were visibly nervous Wednesday, waiting as judges looked over a written synopsis of the project they’ve worked on since the first week of September.
It was silent in the room, surrounded by the final presentations of other researchers in the project. Nearby, the muffled sounds of a video documentary running in the next room, perused by yet more judges.
And, just down the hall, the rest of the student body of Torrington Middle School were deeply immersed in their regular studies. This wasn’t a high-profile research project at a major university of world-renowned think-tank.
Albaugh, 11, Wondercheck, 12, both sixth graders, and 44 of their school mates at TMS were presenting the results of their research for a shot at the regional National History Day competition, scheduled for March 16 at Wheatland Middle School. This is the fourth year TMS students have researched, studied and researched some more to participate in the national
competition.
Middle school social studies teachers Stephen Hart and Dave Burrell and TMS Librarian Mary Perkins have guided the students. Hart brought the idea to the local school after he learned about the NHD competitions during a seminar at teachers conference.
Their efforts definitely paid off last year, when then-eighth graders Kaila Husted and HeLena McGaugh qualified at the state competition in Laramie and made it all the way to the national level in June 2017 at the University of Maryland. And that success, the first in the school’s history, lit a fire under the rest of the TMS student body, inspiring 46 students to sign up for the competition this year, compared to about 25 last year, Hart said.
“When we had two girls qualify for nationals last year, the kids saw they could have a chance to go to Maryland to represent our state,” he said. “Several kids went to state last year and they watched (Husted and McGaugh) qualify, they said to themselves, ‘We doing this next year. It’s our turn.’”
Each year, the national organization determines the theme or topic for that year’s competition. This year, the theme is “Conflict and Compromise.”
Students can choose their own projects, as long as they’re in keeping with the overall theme, and present their research in any of five categories: Writing a research paper, designing a website, creating a short performance skit about their subject, creating an exhibit or making a documentary film.
Students are urged to find at least one primary source to help with their research and as many secondary subjects or sources as they can. The National History Day competition teaches the students to go beyond basic searches on internet and dig deeper.
The Torrington Middle School is the only school in Goshen County currently participating in National History Day activities. This year, the 46 students have compiled 27 separate projects, across all five of the presentation categories.
They’re also given the option to work alone or with partners, in all but the research paper category, Hart said. Researching and writing the papers is always done individually.
From the local competition, the top presentations will travel to the regional competition next month, to face off against teams from Wheatland and Cheyenne. The best presentations there earn a spot at the state competition, slated for April 9 and the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Two presenters – either individual or team – will be selected to advance to represent Wyoming at the national competition, set this year for June 10 – 14 at the University of Maryland.
National History Day is about more than just studying history. The projects also present a new way to learn, Hart said. Rather than rote memorization from a book, students are encouraged to think and reason about their subjects, often in entirely new ways.
“These are methods many students don’t use until they’re juniors or seniors in high school, or even in college,” Hart said. “Here, we have sixth, seventh and eighth graders doing it.”