Hundreds of students and parents attended Sierra Vista Middle School's third annual viewing of National History Day projects on Jan. 30. The winning projects featured historical views on issues such as animal rights, China's one-child policy, whaling, voting rights, segregation in schools and marriage equality.
Each year more than a half-million students participate in National History Day. Students choose a historical topic related to the annual theme and then conduct primary and secondary research. After they analyze and interpret sources and draw a conclusion about the significance of their topic, they present their work in one of five ways: as a paper, an exhibit, a dramatic performance, a documentary or a website.
Students selected to represent their schools will compete in the March 8 Orange County National History Day contest, which is judged by educators and historians. The top two projects in each category move on to a state National History Day contest. The top two projects in California are eligible to attend the Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest at the University of Maryland in June.
For a full list of the Sierra Vista Middle School National History Day winners, go to sierravistams.org.
– Submitted by Neal Caldwell, Sierra Vista Middle School
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