May 5, 2004
Projects historically significant
Six area junior high students compete at Michigan History Day
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Presenting information on topics ranging from Dr. Seuss to roller coasters to the 1960s, six area junior high school students recently competed in the Michigan History Day.
Held April 24 in Dearborn, the competition included more than 170 students in grades 4-12 from around the state, who presented papers, exhibits or documentaries on a facet of United States history. Working either individually or in teams, 60 competitors received honors for their effort.
Three ninth-grade students from West Junior High School - Ashley Carpenter, Katie Wagner and Jeremy Thompson - won first place honors for their projects.
Carpenter and Wagner joined forces to create an exhibit on Dr. Seuss, winning the group exhibit category of the senior division. Thompson created a documentary on Harry Traver, a roller coaster pioneer, and took home first place honors in the senior division's individual documentary category.
The three students will compete in the National History Day, scheduled for late June in College Park, Maryland.
All of Inara Kurt's ninth grade history students initially completed a research project as an in-school assignment, choosing their topics last October. Kurt submitted the best projects to a divisional History Day competition, held at West Junior High School in March. Students from West and Traverse City Christian competed in this event and the winners moved on to the state competition.
"We had a history night in January where all the kids showed their projects," said Kurt, a ninth-grade civics and history teacher. "Because they could choose their topic, that made it more fun."
She said the state and national History Day events are like a cross between a Science Fair and an Odyssey of the Mind competition.
"It's a higher level of thinking and you have to show your own work, answer questions from the judges, show that you did the work yourself," Kurt noted.
The girls' choice of Dr. Seuss began as a joke but they quickly embraced the unusual idea, spurred by a corresponding release of the movie "The Cat in the Hat." They delved into his books and learned of his background as a political cartoonist, plus his discomfort with children, and pulled together their findings into a bright visual display.
Per contest rules, all three students updated their project based on suggestions from the three judges at the district event.
"We've redone ours three times, adding a bit more and made it more colorful," Wagner said.
As a roller coaster enthusiast who travels with his father to try out rides around the country, Thompson naturally picked a pioneer in the field for his nine-minute documentary. He pulled together a range of information on Traver, who built a roller coaster dubbed the scariest ever built. Thompson noted that some riders even jumped to their deaths out of the roller coaster's car rather than endure the whole length of the ride.
"For me, I enjoyed working on this project all by myself and seeing that I could do it," Thompson said. "It was a sense of accomplishment."
The 1950s and 1960s were the focus of a junior division group project by three eighth-grade students from Traverse City Christian School.
These students - Kate Johnson, Hannah Lutheran and Anne Friedlander - tapped their parents and grandparents, as well as more traditional primary and secondary sources, for their project. Their three panels covered topics ranging from entertainment, clothing and business to the Vietnam War and the space program.
They received the Family History Award for best entry, given by the Michigan Genealogical Association.
"We learned a lot doing this, it was very interesting to do," Kate Johnson said. "Looking up all the information, you learn it better."
This is the first year that Traverse City area students have competed in Michigan History Day events. Kurt brought the idea to her school after learning of it at social studies teachers professional meetings. She is hopeful that next year more schools and students will participate from northern Michigan.