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Schools

Students Pay Tribute to Debate and Diplomacy at History Day

Diverse topics from throughout history were on display at Richard Montgomery High on Saturday.

Students from across the county presented projects on a diversity of subjects—from Dadaism to Richard Nixon to Jackie Robinson—at the 12th annual Montgomery County History Day competition on Saturday at Richard Montgomery High School.

The daylong event, sponsored by the Montgomery County Historical Society, featured research papers, exhibits, performances, multimedia documentaries and Web sites reflecting this year’s theme of "Debate & Diplomacy: Successes, Failures, Consequences."

“It’s really exciting to see this many students participating in a history exhibition,” said Amelia Chisholm, a special prizes judge for women’s history projects. “I’m really impressed to see this level of critical thinking and interest in this country’s history.”

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The first three hours consisted of the middle and high school students presenting their projects to competition judges, who were adult volunteers. Afterwards, the judges convened to decide the winners.

"The students really get to present their work," said Liz Otey, the director of education at the Montgomery County Historical Society. "So it's not just the judges sitting in a room, viewing the documentary and that's it. They actually interact with the students."

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In the afternoon, the exhibit opened to the public and winning entries were announced in the school auditorium. Winners received a medal and a certificate, although participants could also receive special cash prizes, regardless of whether or not they won in a particular category.

"The more prizes we give, the more excited [students] get about history," said Beth Hickey, the Historical Society's  interim director.

The competition gives students a good introduction to primary research and experience in presenting their findings, Hickey said.

“These are researching skills we can never let go,” said Devon Goetz, an Eastern Middle School student.

Goetz, 12, worked on her project, “Jack Roosevelt Robinson: The Debate Over Integration,” with classmate Anna Olsson, also 12. Goetz said she and Olsson went to college libraries, such as the University of Maryland, College Park's McKeldin Library, to gather information.

"We liked seeing how other people approached their projects and how they compared," Olsson said.

Among the winners was Andrew White, 13, from Rosa Parks Middle School. White won for Best Junior Individual Exhibit with his “Nixon in China: Ping Pong Diplomacy” display, chronicling the former president’s 1972 visit to China. The project was a trifold display, complete with a mini-ping pong set.

“[The topic] was a lot more interesting than I thought it’d be,” White said. Last year, White’s winning project had been on the H.L. Hunley, the first combat submarine to ever sink an enemy ship in battle.

“I didn’t expect him to win two years in a row!” said Lynn Fields, Andrew’s mother.

Other topics included “Debating the Dada: The Artistic Departure From Traditional Ways,” a performance put on by Eastern Middle School students Julia Sint, Meres Medina, Ciciely Davy and Elizabeth Lambert.

“It seemed only a performance would really depict Dada as it is,” Ciciely said, explaining that the four students shouted out words that contradicted each other to describe the versatile Dada movement.

“We wanted to make it as absurd as possible,” Meres said.

History Day winners at the county level  move on to the state competition on April 30, which will be held at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. State-level winners will compete with students nationwide on National History Day in May at the University of Maryland, College Park.

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