Judges evaluate one of the submissions.
GREENEVILLE – Students from local elementary schools, middle schools and high schools were honored at an event on the Tusculum University campus for their contributions to understanding different aspects of history.
Tusculum administered the district competition held Monday, March 4, as part of the National History Day® contest and helped present awards to students who explored historical topics using a variety of media. The students showed and demonstrated their material to judges from the community and the university.
“We received thoughtful submissions from students that contributed to increased knowledge of our nation’s rich and diverse history,” said Dollie Boyd, Tusculum’s director of museums. “Through this event, we hope these students recognize how our present is frequently influenced by our past. We can learn so much from history, and the work of these students is proving it.”
Students could participate in five categories – exhibits, websites, papers, performances and documentaries. They could submit as either individuals or groups in each category except papers and needed to pick a subject that matched the theme “Triumph and Tragedy.”
Among the subjects students addressed were Gettysburg, the Battle of Kings Mountain, the Titanic, rifles, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Walt Disney, Harriet Tubman, Wilma Rudolph and the horse breeder responsible for Secretariat. Students are encouraged to incorporate something a judge might not already know and are required to use primary sources such as letters, photographs and diary entries for their information.
Schools that participated in the competition were Chuckey-Doak Middle School in Afton, Cosby High School in Cosby, DeBusk Elementary School in Greeneville, John Sevier Middle School in Kingsport, Mosheim Elementary School in Mosheim, Nolachuckey Elementary School in Greeneville, South Greene High School in Greeneville and University School in Johnson City.
The winners, their school and their subjects are:
Junior individual exhibit
- First place – Reese Ottinger, Nolachuckey Elementary School; “Penny Chenery”
- Second place – Austin Johnson, DeBusk Elementary School; “Sally Ride: America’s first woman to space”
Senior individual exhibit
- First place – Riley Ottinger, South Greene High School; “Titanic: the tragedy that shaped the future.”
- Second place – Harlee Taylor, Cosby High School; “Gettysburg: a tragic battle leads to Union triumph”
Junior group exhibit
- First place – Laney Ricker and Kaylee Brooks, Chuckey-Doak Middle School; “Wilma Rudolph: polio survivor to Olympic medalist”
- Second place – Nolan Weems, Jacob Susong and Mason Hill, Nolachuckey Elementary School; “M14 vs. M16”
- Third place – Molly Livingston and Kaylie Burns, Nolachuckey Elementary School; “Walt Disney”
Junior group performance
- First place – Nora Scott and Caylee Walton, DeBusk Elementary School; “An interview with Buddy Holly”
- Second place – Emilie Cinnamon and Sophia Myers, Mosheim Elementary School; “Routine and Rebellion”
- Third place – Skylar Satterwhite, Casey Barwick, Michaela Westmoreland and Logan Hilton, Chuckey-Doak Middle School; “9/11: the first responders”
Junior group website
- First place – Diya Reddy and Anjali Ananthula, University School; “The secrets of DNA: Rosalind Franklin”
- Second place – Amya Catron and Jessie Ward, Nolachuckey Elementary School; “The Titanic”
Senior individual website
- First place – Rebecca Cox, South Greene High School; “Shoot for the stars: the triumph and tragedy of the space shuttle program”
Junior individual paper
- First place – Balagopalan Pushkas, John Sevier Middle School; “The triumphs and tragedies of Napoleon Bonaparte”
Senior individual paper
- First place – Amanda Kent, Cosby High School; “A true tragedy; the great pestilence”
First and second place winners will advance to the state level – the Tennessee History Day contest – in the spring in Nashville. The Tennessee Historical Society will sponsor that event. The first and second place winners at the state will compete in the National History Day contest in Washington in June.
“Tusculum thanks all of our competitors and wishes them best of wishes in their future academic pursuits,” Boyd said. “We are confident those who are fortunate to proceed to the state competition will make a positive impact on the judges and the community.”
Tusculum University, the first higher education institution in Tennessee and the 28th oldest in the nation, provides a comprehensive education in a Judeo-Christian environment, grounded in a civic, liberal and medical arts curriculum with pathways for career preparation, personal development and civic engagement. About 1,800 students are enrolled on the main campus in Greeneville, at locations in Knoxville and Morristown and in online programs.
National History Day®(NHD) is a non-profit education organization based in College Park, Maryland. NHD offers year-long academic programs that engage over half a million middle- and high-school students around the world annually in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. Since 1974, NHD has continuously improved history education by providing professional development opportunities and curriculum materials for educators. The largest NHD program is the National History Day Contest that encourages more than half a million students around the world to conduct historical research on a topic of their choice. Students enter these projects at the local and affiliate levels, with top students advancing to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park.
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