I loved spending time last month traveling to several of the regional contests. Seeing the student work and hearing about their experiences moves me so deeply that I often get a little teary.  (Some of you may have noticed that!)

 

I was pleased to see so many new districts and schools participating this year.  New York City History Day brought on 14 new schools, while the Lower Hudson region saw 9 new schools join from Yonkers alone.  Our upstate participation also grew significantly, with several teachers and students participating in our new Western Southern Tier region. Despite the geographic split, the Southern Tier region saw participation growth with their contest. I saw several entries from Canandaigua schools this year at the Finger Lakes contest, which hosted the district in competition for the first time.  And the Catskill region quadrupled the number of schools participating in their contest in just one year!

 

Thank you to all of you, from the students, teachers, and parents, to the hard working staff members at our regional offices, to the administrators and supervisors who see the educational value of this program.

 

As this History Day year is drawing to a close, I hope to see you all (and many many more) around the state next year, when the Annual Theme will be "The Individual in History."

 

Best wishes,

Tobi Voigt