Birchwood Students Win State History Day Competition


On Monday, April 27, 2020, the awards ceremony for the state level of the competition was held virtually in Columbus. Although everyone missed being together in person, many joined the Birchwood watch party on Zoom to cheer on the Birchwood students. It was wonderful to learn that ten Birchwood students qualified to move on to the national competition.
At the district level of the National History Day competition in early March, twenty-eight Birchwood students were thrilled that they qualified to advance to the state competition in late April. Then came the shutdown due to Covid-19 and it left many wondering if the competition would continue. But the national office decided that it was so important to keep the momentum going for the students who had worked so hard on their projects that the decision was made to continue the competition virtually, both at the state level and the national level.

Once the shut-down began, students persevered to do more work on their projects to improve them based on feedback from the judges at the district competition as well as teacher feedback. With all the libraries closed, students had to utilize their digital research skills to search online databases for additional research material and use other online sources for information. Each project improved significantly. Kudos to these 28 students for their continued work!

All work was sent into the competition digitally. Students doing exhibits took multiple pictures from different angles of each section of their exhibit and submitted them along with their research. Students who did a performance submitted their scripts, pictures of their costumes, and their research. Live recordings of the performances were not allowed due to social distancing rules. Those students doing documentaries had to upload their videos to a private YouTube channel and also submit their research. Websites entries had the fewest adjustments to make to their project submission since they were already online, and students doing historical papers had to upload them when completed. All digital materials were then placed in the hands of judges who evaluated the projects over a 2-week period.

On Monday, April 27, 2020, the awards ceremony for the state level of the competition was held virtually in Columbus. Although everyone missed being together in person, many joined the Birchwood watch party on Zoom to cheer on the Birchwood students. It was wonderful to learn that ten Birchwood students qualified to move on to the national competition. All first and second place finishers advance.

Abby and Rebecca placed first with their group website on the Harlem Renaissance.They also received the African American History Award. Birchwood students earned first and second place in the individual documentary category. Angela placed first with her story about Myra Merrick, the first female physician in Ohio in the 1800s. Placing second was Qiwen who looked at the Opium Wars with her documentary. In the group performance category, Birchwood students also took first and second place. Earning the first place finish was the group of Sofia, Camille, and Nasreen for their performance about Dolores Huerta and her work with migrant farm workers. Placing second was a group of three sixth-graders made up of Isabella, Brooke, and Su-Kyi. They portrayed the life and work of Nellie Bly, the pioneering journalist in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In addition to these national qualifiers, Samy placed third with her paper on Frida Kahlo, and Omar and Eashan received an honorable mention for their group documentary on the Ghost Army from WWII.

Congratulations to all these students and best of luck at the virtual national competition in June!
 
Click here to read the Birchwood School of Hawken History Day state level press release. 
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