The students, who range from 4th through 12th grade, film documentaries, create exhibits, write historical papers, give performances, or build websites. Local history experts, including HSU students, faculty, and alumni, as well as local teachers and community members, will judge the projects.
Ten HSU students currently enrolled in a for-credit History Day Event course have been training to judge projects and interview participants on the day of the event. They will also prepare campus for the display, award ceremony, and other activities. The projects will be on display to the public for free in the University Center from 12-2 p.m. on Saturday, March 9.
“HSU students have participated in History Day before attending HSU, then serve as judges and organizers while attending HSU, and then go on to become teachers who send their students to HSU to participate in History Day,” says HSU History Instructor and History Day Coordinator Paul Geck. “This event encourages lifelong learning for everyone involved, and excites the historian in all of us.”
Through the rigorous process of researching and preparing creative and original History Day projects, students learn and analyze issues, ideas, people, and events in history and apply that knowledge to their projects. Students participating in History Day receive assistance from HSU History professors and students, as well as full access to the HSU Library and its support staff.
Winners of the competition will advance to the State History Day, where they have a chance to advance to National History Day in Washington, D.C. in June. Former HSU History Professor William R. Tanner founded the local History Day in 1982.
History Day in Humboldt County is a collaboration between the Humboldt County Office of Education and Humboldt State University.