Twenty six, Jo Byrns Students participated in the National History Day competition on Feb. 22, at the Morgan University Center on the APSU campus in Clarksville and came home with multiple awards.
The competition was for the North Middle District contest, which includes Cheatam, Dickson, Henry, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery and Stewart counties.
Jo Byrns has previously sent students to the district contest when it was held at MTSU and some JBHS students have qualified to compete in the National contest in Washington D.C.
In last month’s competition, eighth grader Emilie Head placed 2nd in Individual Exhibit competition with her exhibition featuring Susan B. Anthony.
Megan Hurt, also an eighth-grade student, place 1st in Research Paper competition with a paper on Japanese Manga and Anime.
Kali Morrison place 2nd in the Individual Website division, with her website creation on Joan of Arc. Ty Shearon, Bruce Stracener, and Eli Worsham placed 1st in Group Documentary for their movie on John Brown.
Each student began work on their project in August of 2016, and have dedicated time, effort, and practice to their presentations. They will now move on to the state contest, which will be held on April 8, at the Capitol Complex in Nashville. There they will compete with students from across the state for the honor of moving on to the national contest, which is held in Washington D.C. at the University of Maryland.
National History Day is a contest for students grade 6-12 and is sponsored annually by the History Channel. Projects are designed to teach students how to properly conduct research and compile their results.
Students select a topic in history of their choosing that relates to a yearly theme. This year’s theme is Taking a Stand in History.
Students may choose between five different project divisions. These include: exhibits, documentaries, websites, research papers, or a performance. There is also an oral component for each project, where students must be able to answer questions, and explain their project to judges.