Parent and teacher recommends History Day contest

National History Day has been an amazing experience for my students and me.  It has provided an opportunity to seamlessly combine academic learning with practical life skills in a fun and exciting experience that breaks up the normal day to day classroom routine.  Students enjoy the change of pace, participating in the competitions, and looking at each other’s projects. They also find it is a fun way to learn about history.

One important way NHD helps students academically and practically is by giving them a chance to practice managing a large project.  We normally spend six to eight weeks on our NHD projects, and students have to learn how to manage their time in order to meet all of the requirements.  They have to take their large project and break it down into smaller units of work, pacing themselves in order to finish on time.  This is an invaluable skill to have not only for their later academic life but also for their working careers.

At each level of competition, the students participate in an interview with judges.  This interview process provides excellent practice for future college, scholarship, and job interviews.  Students have the opportunity to practice calming their nerves, making eye contact, speaking slowly and calmly, and articulating what they know in an understandable way.  The more students do this, the better they will perform in future interviews.

NHD also gives students the opportunity to practice winning and losing graciously.  Students put hours of work into their projects and are generally excited about what they have accomplished.  Losing can be difficult for them, but it gives them a chance to learn and grow, as well as something to work for next year.  It also allows these students the opportunity to learn to be happy for those that win.  In life, this is an important lesson that allows a person to be a valuable member of a team.  Students who win also have to learn to do so graciously.  Demonstrating awareness of the help they have received and thankfulness for the gifts and talents they have been given will help them be valuable members of a team.

Naturally, some portions of NHD are primarily academic.  Working on a NHD project provides increased knowledge of whatever particular historical event or figure they are studying, as well as information from the projects of their classmates and fellow competitors.  They also learn to write a thesis and back it up with important and relevant details.  This will be especially beneficial to them in their college experience.  In addition they learn to evaluate and properly cite a variety of sources such as books, websites, movies, and pictures.  The ability to determine whether or not a source has academic merit will help them in the future in deciding what information is credible.

Besides being educational and practical, NHD is also a fun social event for the students.  They enjoy the more relaxed (until close to competition day) classroom style and the chance to offer peer editing and reviews of their fellow classmates’ projects.  The actual day of competition is an exciting day to attend.  They enjoy exploring the campus, playing games, endlessly discussing their interviews and who might win, as well as eating and hanging out together for the day.

We have been incredibly blessed by our ability to participate in NHD.  I would highly recommend this opportunity to you.  Although the information can seem overwhelming at the beginning, there is no penalty for doing it wrong.  You can simply learn from your mistakes and go on.  Many students express a marked increase in their interest in history due to their participation in NHD.  Win or lose they will have gained valuable academic and practical knowledge and had a good time.  Hope to see you all next year!

Shelle DeVries is a MA Student in the Department of History and teaches 6th and 7th grade Social Studies at Providence Christian School in Kalamazoo.