2011 Riverview Graduate Places 12th in National Competition

may be small, but dedicated teachers like Ken Kubistek, Social Studies Chairperson, mentors students in a variety of academic competitions. Last spring, one of his protégés made him proud.

Riverview High School 2011 graduate Scott Keefer won 12th place in the national finals of the National History Day Competiton earlier this year.

National History Day is an annual competition that invites students to showcase their interest in history by completing their choice of history related projects based on a national theme. Participants choose to work as an individual or as a group to complete a website, documentary, exhibit or performance. Those who want to complete intense, individual research also can write a historical paper.

The theme for the 2011 National History Day contest was Debate and Diplomacy in History.

Keefer entered the competition by choosing to write a Senior Historical Paper entitled "The 'Promised' Land: Failed Diplomacy and the Middle East." Over the course of the 2010-11 school year, Keefer conducted many interviews with historians and read numerous accounts of attempted diplomacy between the people of the Middle East and Europe.

His research led him to determine that the current situation in the Middle East is a direct result of the failures of and broken promises from European nations to provide the independence they had promised to the many people in the Middle East.

Keefer also concluded that the Middle East would be more organized and peaceful today had Britain, France, and to some extent, the United States supported the right of self-determination for all nations, not just those that would serve their own interests.

Keefer advanced through the regional and Pennsylvania State Competitions earning the chance to present his paper at the National Finals in Washington D.C. last June. At the National History Day Competition, he presented his paper against 110 other students and finished 12th in the nation—the best ever for a Riverview student.

Keefer was the class of 2011 salutatorian. He currently is a student at Allegheny College and plans to continue to study history.

“Our social studies department is responsible for preparing our students to become leaders in our Republic," said Riverview High School principal Jay Moser. "Scott is an outstanding example of a student who is passionate about government and international relations.

“We are proud of both Scott and Mr. Kubistek. Great teachers bring out the very best in our students at Riverview.”