Area Students Preparing For Connecticut History Day Contest

From the Connecticut Democracy Center:

February 28 2020

Mansfield, Conn.— What do Nirvana, Ella Grasso, and Mahatma Gandhi have in common? They are all examples of breaking barriers in history and the topics of student projects for the Connecticut History Day Contest.
The first of six Connecticut History Day regional contests takes place this Saturday, February 29 at UConn. 190 middle and high school students will share performances, documentaries, exhibits, websites, and papers to compete for a chance to move on to the state contest on May 2 at Central Connecticut State University.

Students choose topics related to the 2020 theme of Breaking Barriers in History, conduct research by interviewing experts and shape their findings into sound historical arguments. Working alone or in groups, students use their research to create projects in one of five categories – exhibits, documentaries, websites, papers, or performances.

At Timothy Edwards Middle School in South Windsor, students are preparing to compete in Saturday’s Mansfield Regional Contest. The students are part of a school group called Project Excel, the talented and gifted program coordinated by teacher John Smith-Horn, who has been guiding students through the Connecticut History Day program for five years.

Students Owen Jerr and Caleb Beaulieu were inspired by their love of Nirvana and grunge music from the 1990s, which they say they inherited from their fathers. They are entering a documentary video about how Nirvana broke barriers in the music industry.

“(Nirvana) changed how we see music,” said Beaulieu. “They took a rag-tag type of music from the bottom to the top.”

Their dads introduced them to the style of music. When they chose to explore the topic for Connecticut History Day the parents were excited. “Not a lot of kids today know about Nirvana and this type of music,” said Jerr.
Students Harini Sambandam and Arushi Sharma chose to create an exhibit for their entry on Ella Grasso. They created a life-sized podium that they hope will capture the judges’ attention and decorated it with photos, quotes, and news clippings about Connecticut’s first female governor.

To research Grasso, Sambandam and Sharma interviewed Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz and explored the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame exhibit on her.

Students at the Mansfield/Storrs Regional Contest represent Mansfield and its surrounding towns: Danielson, Ellington, Enfield, Farmington, Manchester, Mansfield, South Windsor, Vernon, Willimantic, and Windsor. Students will present their projects to judging teams beginning at 9:30 a.m. The judges—educators, historians, and history-lovers—will review the projects and choose the top three that will advance to the State Contest. Members of the public are invited to attend.

The winning students and entries from the Mansfield/Storrs Regional Contest will be posted on online at historydayct.org/contest-winners on Monday, March 2. Students placing in the top three spots in each category and division (juniors- grades 6-8, seniors-grades 9-12) are invited to the Connecticut History Day State Contest. Students that place in the top two at the State Contest are eligible to participate in the National History Day Contest, held in June at the University of Maryland.

Follow Connecticut History Day on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, or visit the program’s website at histordayct.org. Further information about National History Day can be found at http://nhd.org/.

Led by the Connecticut Democracy Center, Connecticut History Day is one of 58 affiliate programs of National History Day (NHD). CHD is presented with major funding and partnership support from CT Humanities. Program support given by: the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, New Haven Museum, the Connecticut League of History Organizations, Connecticut Explored Magazine, and ConnecticutHistory.org. UConn’s Office of Early College Programs and History Department are hosting the Mansfield/Storrs Regional Contest.

The Connecticut Democracy Center (CTDC) provides people with a lifetime pathway to active citizenship and the tools to take civic action in their own communities. CTDC strengthens civic engagement in the Constitution State by providing comprehensive and unbiased educational programming and outreach on state government, civics, history, and citizenship, particularly through its two signature programs: Kid Governor® and Connecticut History Day.

This press release was produced by the Connecticut Democracy Center. The views expressed here are the author’s own.