National History Day, or NHD, has taught me many things. As stated on the NHD website, this program allows students to go beyond regular school-curriculum history and research a single topic for an entire year, develop a thesis in connection to the annually changing theme, and support it with evidence in the form of a documentary, exhibit, paper, website, or performance. But most importantly, National History Day has taught me that its name is a misnomer.
1. National. Students from around the globe participate in NHD. All 50 states, some U.S. territories, and international schools from Europe to Asia join together at the national competition at the University of Maryland in College Park each year in June. More than 2,400 students put aside their differences and celebrate their shared passion for history.
2. History. However, NHD projects are never “only history.” One Grover Middle School student produced a documentary outlining how Edward Jenner’s creation of the smallpox vaccine was the beginning of the end of disease. Another student’s website focused on the Einstein-Szilard letter, the letter that prompted America’s involvement in a nuclear program, research that continues today at national laboratories throughout the country, including the local Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
Another student created an exhibit on the 1953 Iranian coup and its repercussions on modern-day geopolitics, while another Grover Middle School student researched the creation of fiat money in the 1800s and how it steered America towards the 2008 financial recession. NHD is not about history, it is about historical events with long-lasting, modern-day consequences.
3. Day. For NHD national qualifiers at Grover, going to the competition in Washington DC is merely the cherry atop a sundae of research. Representing the state of New Jersey is the culmination of months and months of work. All of the Grover students attending the national competition have researched their topics and worked on their projects since June, 2012. Throughout the school year, students researched interesting topics and compiled a bibliography. Some bibliographies exceeded 200 sources.
After gaining sufficient background on their topics, Grover students conducted interviews with experts, including Jon MacLaren, head of the Department of Homeland Security’s ammonium security division; Donald Henderson, who headed the World Health Organization’s Global Smallpox Eradication Campaign; and Rush Holt, local Congressman and physicist. The students then constructed their projects and began to prepare to defend their theses in front of a panel of judges.
Five Grover students succeeded, from 1,184 entries at the regional and state levels, to qualify for the national competition. The NHD research process is similar to that of a doctoral thesis or any other research and analysis project. NHD creates innovative and practical problem solvers, effective communicators, collaborative team members, information literate researchers, self-directed learners, and globally aware citizens, all skills applicable later in life. National History Day is more than just a day — it’s an experience.
National History Day is more than its name says. It is a valuable educational experience that expands learning beyond what is learned in the classroom. At Grover and Community middle schools, NHD is part of PRISM, the schools’ academic enrichment program. Students at High School North and South participate in NHD as an after-school club. To learn more about National History Day, contact Debbie Cohen at Grover Middle School, Karen Rosnick at Community Middle School, or Joan Ruddiman, all teachers in the WW-P Regional School District. You may also contact the New Jersey History Day office at William Paterson University at 973-720-3131.
Virginia Jiang is a student at Grover Middle School who is a national qualifier representing Grover Middle School with her paper on German scientist Fritz Haber, “Life and Death From Above: How One Man Created a Chemical Equation, Weaponized Air, and Fed the World,” at the National History Day national finals.
Other participants: Grover Middle School: Rishab Bhandari: Exhibit – Fiat Money: The End of the Golden Age; Allison Chen: Documentary – THE Vaccine: Smallpox as a Turning Point in Immunization; Sruthi Katakam: Website – The Einstein-Szilard Letter: Launching America into the Atomic Age; and Anahita Mohapatra: Exhibit – The Geopolitics of Oil: Staging the 1953 Coup.
Community Middle School: Devanei Solai: Performance – One Book, Two Books, Red Book, Blue Book: Dr. Seuss Creates a Turning Point in Children’s Literature.
High School North: Sara Duane, Alexandra Burke, Caroline Charles, and Sara Gostomski: Group Performance – The Emancipation Proclamation: The Document that Changed the Fate of the States; Liam Knox: Documentary – Pillars of Faith, Towers of Freedom: The Rise of Radical Islam and the Path to 9/11; Suntharam Solai: Performance – Checkmate: The 1972 World Chess Championship as a Political and Intellectual Turning Point.
High School South: William Jiao: Website – American Intelligence in the Pacific Front; George Li and Jeffrey Wang: Group Documentary – The Declaration of Rights: A Revolutionary Crossroads in Enlightenment Republicanism.
