Front (L-R) Darla Harrison, Megan Harding, Alicia Mills,
Destiny Wager, Kelcie Wilson, Aleah Dye, Tiffany Harding;
Back row (L-R) Kaleb Nicholas, David Marks, Destiney Murphy,
Shaylah Wilson, Kaitlyn Toney, Mogan Moneypenny, Shelby
Clawson, Erika Newell, Tori Carpenter, Jenna Miliron
(Not pictured Rebbecca Newlon, Kenneth Wolf)
The Calhoun County Middle High School State Winners have set up a GOFUNDME account at
www.gofundme.com to raise money to be able to participate and compete in the National History Day Competition being held at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, June 15th-19th 2014. Funds raised will assist with registration, lodging, food and transportation for the 9 (nine) kids eligible to compete.
Coming from a small, rural area, most of these kids' families are unable financially to provide much support. We were told at the State competition that they have no money available to help out with any costs, therefore we need to raise as much as we can! Every little bit helps!
Find out more about National History Day at
www.nhd.org
By Dan Cosgrove, Coach
Calhoun Students competed in both the junior (middle school) and senior (high school) divisions at the West Virginia's National History Day, April 11th. Calhoun teams in both divisions earned 1st place and are now eligible to compete at the national competition scheduled for June 15 - 19 at the University of Maryland.
Students could compete as individuals or in groups, choosing from creating a scholarly research paper, documentary, website, designing an exhibit, or putting on a performance. Sixteen middle school students competed by putting on performances. All but one student decided to work in a group.
The winning group performance of the day went to 6th grader Megan Harding, 7th grader Alicia Mills, and 8th grader Darla Harrison. Their skit was called "Freedom Riders: The Joan Browning Story." Joan Browning visited the school earlier this year and talked to the social studies classes about the Freedom Rides and the Civil Rights Movement.
These girls showed an extreme interest in her story and were invited to have lunch and a private meeting with her. They came away with a book and letters Ms. Browning wrote while in jail in Georgia for her participation in the Freedom Rides. The girls continued their research and wrote a script highlighting the jail scene with Harrison as Browning being pulled out of a taxi and being locked up.
They ended with a scene right in the classroom during her visit to Calhoun, with Harding looking for a cause today, stopping bullying, that she was willing to stand up for. Mills served as narrator, policeman, and Joan's best friend. The judges commented favorably on the group tying the message of standing up for rights from the 1960s to fighting for injustices today.
For National History Day, both 1st and 2nd place finishers are eligible to compete at the national competition.
A second group of students from Calhoun took 2nd place. Seventh grade students, Destiney Murphy, Kaitlyn Toney, Destiny Wager, and Shaylah Wilson, performed their skit on "The Tragic Life of Bridget Bishop." This was a story about a woman in Salem, Massachusetts who was accused of being a witch during the infamous Salem Witch Trials.
Although she was not the first one to be found guilty, she was the first to be executed. Wilson played Bishop, while Toney and Wager played the girls who accused her. Murphy played the judge. Due to unavoidable circumstances, Murphy, who initially intended to play one of the accusers, was switched to playing the judge the day before the competition. With numerous lines to learn the pressure was severe, as they were still running through them on the bus ride to the competition. They pulled it off with an amazing performance.
A veteran group of 8th graders, consisting of Morgan Moneypenny, Kaleb Nicholas, and David Marks did a skit on gender discrimination in the workplace called "The Gap (Trying to Break the Glass Ceiling)." The judges final comment at the end of their performance was "there's hope in our country." Both Moneypenny and Nicholas had previously competed in NHD and brought great insight and advice to the other groups. Moneypenny told the groups before the competition to be happy for whoever wins and celebrate with them. She put those words into action when she yelled and shouted in joy when the winning teams were announced. I don't think she could have been any happier if her group won. They ended up getting an Honorable Mention. We had different groups, but one team!
A six grade group of students including Torrence (Tori) Carpenter, Shelby Clawson, Tiffany Harding, Jenna Milliron and Erika Newell, performed a skit on child labor during the 19th and early 20th century. Although they didn't place at the competition, they did take 1st place at the county level just weeks earlier. This probably hurt them in the long run, as the other teams realized they had a lot of work to do. They shared in the celebration of the other groups and were already thinking about the competition next year.
One student, Kelcie Wilson, decided to work alone and did a moving portrayal of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who hid from the Nazis for years until finally being caught and sent to a German Concentration Camp during the Holocaust, where she died just weeks before liberation. For many in attendance, this was the best and most moving performance of the day. She received an Honorable Mention at the awards ceremony.
On the high school side, three students designed websites. Rebbicca Newlon and Kenneth Wolf earned 1st place by teaming up to create a website on the "Rights and Responsibilities of the Criminally Insane," while Aleah Dye went it alone and earned an Honorable Mention for her website about the rights and responsibilities of presidents called "U.S. Presidents - Comparable to Superman?"
Now we need your help.
Following the awards ceremony, the winning students were called to meet with the state coordinator. The first thing out of his mouth was the state didn't have any money to send the students to the national competition. I immediately had nightmares of bake sales, car washes, basket bingo and numerous other fundraising events. I would rather spend any of this time with the students, continuing their research and practice for the nationals.
I asked the students to hold off putting out jars and hitting up businesses. Students have the chance to compete against, and even more importantly, mingle and meet students from all 50 states and U.S. Territories. I do not have a final cost, and have not even met with the parents yet to discuss what we are going to do. I know it cost over a thousand dollars in expenses last year for the one student who attended. That included gas, hotel, food and registration. We have 9 students eligible this year. As a group I'm sure it will be a lot less expensive per student, but we will need help. Again, we've just won and I haven't met with school officials. I hope we can set up an account where people can donate to the NHD fund. We look forward to any sponsorship or donation. Details will follow.
A special thanks to our chaperones on Friday; the parents who had to bring students to school on Saturdays and other requests with short notice; and some special grandparents who were recruited for sewing and finishing touches on costumes. Thanks also go to staff members who helped with advice and local judging. I would like to acknowledge all the students who participated in NHD over the past 3 years, giving us the learning curve necessary to make this happen. Of course, thank you to everyone thinking about getting the team to Marylandâ¦
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