National History Day
by Ryan McDonald
On Saturday, March 6th, thirteen Oakmont students, including me, from Dr. Kevin Hart’s Advanced Placement United States History class participated in Central Massachusetts Regional History Day at Quabbin Regional High School. Students across the country have entered projects into a history competition known as National History Day. The students were challenged to create an exhibit, web page, performance, documentary or historical paper concerning the innovation, change and impact of a subject of their choice.
Oakmont competed against nine other schools and was successful in two divisions. Sarah Lupinski, Kellie Pawelski, and Benjamin Wessels won 2nd in the exhibit division with DNA: The Puzzle of Life and will be moving on to the state level of the competition. In addition, I came in 1st in the individual performance division with Voice: The Beat Generation and will be accompanying my friends to states. However, Lauren Reilly, Krysta Zbikowski, Emily Estelle, Nick Charron, Sarah Reynolds, Anna Roger, Corinne Cooke, Leslie Gould, and Joe DiVito deserve just as much recognition for their hard work.
The process of creating an entry for National History Day is anything but an easy task. We started on our projects about five months ago. Dr. Hart has patiently guided us through the process. He has been a great coach and we are certainly grateful for all of his help. On top of the actual project, each entry requires an annotated bibliography with at least fifteen sources and a 500 word process paper. Lauren Reilly wrote a historical paper on “The New Women” in the 1920s. She had to write a lengthy paper which requires many, many, many hours of staring at computer screen writing and revising. Krysta Zbikowski wrote a paper on the effects of 19th century immigration on American cities. While presenting their papers, Lauren and Krysta had to be interviewed and prove their thesis to the judges.
Sarah Reynolds, Anna Roger, Corinne Cooke, Leslie Gould, and Joe DiVito deserve a very special acknowledgment for the hardships they have had to battle through in the last week. Unfortunately, one member recently lost a loved one and another has suffered a knee injury. Nonetheless, Scandal on the Silver Screen: Censorship in 1930s Hollywood, as the play was titled, aroused laughter and smiles throughout the crowd. The play shows the progression of censorship during Hollywood’s Golden Age. The group spent hours upon hours creating a large set that captured the scene perfectly. Then, they had to practice, practice, and practice. When they finally performed for judges, they were practically flawless even when one member was on crutches! They were absolutely magnificent and definitely challenged their opponents for their score sheet was marked up and down with “superiors” and “excellents”.
Emily Estelle and Nick Charron made a fantastic exhibit in the shape of a spaceship. Their project explained the Space Race and its effect on the Cold War and America. Together, Emily and Nick stayed up into the early hours of the morning numerous times creating their exhibit which required careful construction and painting. They did extremely extensive research on what can be a complicated subject. This group deserves a very special acknowledgment as well for one member has had to go through multiple surgeries within the last two months. Despite the member having surgery just two days before the competition, the group still presented a beautiful and informative exhibit. In the end, they impressed the judges and certainly impressed their friends and family.
Sarah Lupinski, Kellie Pawelski, and Benjamin Wessels made an incredible exhibit on DNA and the double helix. The three of them put together a six foot exhibit with an extraordinary DNA strand that caught many people’s eyes. It even caught the jealous criticism of some students from the dominant Bedford High School, who won almost every division. As Bedford’s motto, translated from Latin, means “Conquer or Die” and Sarah, Kellie, and Ben certainly conquered their highly competitive division. I hope that they will be able to do as well as they move on to the states level.
My entry was a performance on the Beat Generation. I played the ghost of the Beat Generation writer, Jack Kerouac and ranted poetry about the struggles for some to obtain a voice in 20th century America. Since I decided to do an individual performance, practicing required extensive amounts of time talking to myself. Still, all the work was worth the end result of making my family and friends smile and moving on to states. Only because of my own experience do I understand the amount of hard work my friends put in. Like them, I had to take notes on sources, write, practice, and perform. When you’re up at 2am taking notes on what is your third book that night, the competition can seem daunting and impossible. Miraculously, we did it and I could have never made states without the support of my friends!
A special thanks to our parents for buying materials, waking up to the printer at one in the morning, dealing with complaints, not freaking out when their kitchen chair and nightstand has disappeared, supporting other kids as well as their own at the competition and more. I know that behind each one of my best friends are parents supporting them. Furthermore, I would like to give another thanks to Dr. Hart. He has revised and corrected our projects multiple times, pushed us to do our best and has been very supportive.
All in all, National History Day has been a wonderful experience that has brought us together. On those long nights, we were there for each other and at the competition we cheered each other on enthusiastically. Every project was spectacular. For the majority of the class, they can breathe a sigh of relief for the hard work is over. Yet, for some, the journey continues! Sarah, Kellie, Ben, and I will represent Oakmont at the Massachusetts History Day, April 10th at Clark University and hope to make it to National History Day in Washington D.C. Wish us luck!