New York State History Day News

June 2009

Volume 3 - Issue 10

Greetings from the State Coordinator

Greetings!

Wow! What a year! As the 2009 History Day year draws to a close, I want to offer my hearty appreciation to all the teachers, students, and parents who have made New York State History Day such a successful program. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. I am so grateful to you.

This will be our last e-newsletter until August, when we will return in full force with a plethora of information on the 2010 History Day year. Many of you know that the new annual theme is Innovation in History: Impact and Change. The theme sheet is available now at www.nyshistoryday.org/theme.htm. Over the summer we will update the site with new theme information as it becomes available, so check back often!

In the meantime, feel free to contact me with any History Day questions you may have. But most importantly, ENJOY THE SUMMER! :-) We'll see you in the autumn!

Best wishes,

Tobi Voigt

2009 National History Day Winners

New York State is proud of its students who competed at the 2009 National History Day competition, held June 14-18 at the University of Maryland in College Park.

You can see and download photos at our Flickr Photostream: www.flickr.com/photos/nyshistoryday

New York sent 58 students to the competition, and all placed well above average in their categories. On average, Junior Division entries placed 5th (out of 14) in the first round of judging. Senior Division entries placed, on average, 5th (out of 14) in the first round of judging. Eight entries qualified for the finals, which narrowed the hundreds of entries to the top 14 in each category. Three New York entries won top honors and special awards:

Top Honors

High School students Lauren Altman, Ankur Mohan, Alexandre Guevara, Randy Tesser and Cassandra Guevara from West Nyack took home the 1st place gold medal for thier Senior Group Performance One for All and Wall for One. They attend Clarkstown South Senior High School.
8th graders Ryan McEvoy and John Giambrone from Genesis at Xaverian school in Brooklyn were recognized for their outstanding entry on immigration history with a special award. Their Junior Group Exhibit entry, entitled Building New York City: The Gilded Age Immigrant was also selected as a finalist in the competition.
8th grade students Gabi Im and Lauren Lee from Felix V. Festa Middle School in Rockland County were awarded a special prize for an outstanding entry on World War II history for their Junior Group Performance on Douglas MacArthur. Gabi and Lauren's entry was also a finalist in competition.

Top Rankings
Seven additional New York History Day projects placed within the top 14 in the world for their respective categories. This is an impressive accomplishment, and we express our hearty congratulations to the following students:

5th place: Junior Group Exhibit: Building New York City: The Gilded Age Immigrant by Ryan McEvoy & John Giambrone, Genesis at Xaverian, Brooklyn
6th place: Junior Group Performance: Douglas MacArthur by Gabi Im & Lauren Lee, Felix V. Festa Middle School, West Nyack
6th place: Senior Group Performance: Charles Dickens by Brian Groudan and Reshama Patel, Herricks High School, New Hyde Park
9th place: Senior Individual Exhibit: Captain Walter Farmer and the Wiesbaden Manifesto by Michael Tarantelli, Honeoye Falls-Lima Senior High School, Honeoye Falls
14th place: Junior Historical Paper: Ray Kroc's Supersize Impact on American Culture, by Jamie Keenan, Commack Middle School, Commack
14th place: Junior Group Exhibit: Jim Bowie: The Making of an American Legend by Stephanie Guz & Elky Melohn, Manhattan Day School, New York City
14th place: Senior Historical Paper: Diego Velazquez and Realism by Mariko Azis, Ithaca Senior High School, Ithaca

Outstanding State Entry
National History Day also awards a prize to one Junior and one Senior Division entry in each state. The students receive a medal. New York State's 2009 NHD Outstanding State Entries are:

Junior Division: Stephanie Guz & Elky Melohn from Manhattan Day School in New York City for their Junior Group Exhibit, Jim Bowie: The Making of an American Legend
Senior Division: Michael Tarantelli from Honeoye Falls-Lima Senior High School in Honeoye Falls for his Senior Individual Exhibit, Captain Walter Farmer and the Wiesbaden Manifesto

Congratulations to all of New York Students for your amazing work! The state office staff could not be more proud!

FREE Teacher Workshop: Connecting Classrooms with Primary Sources

Join us in Cooperstown on July 8th from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm for a free teacher workshop brought to you by the New York State History Day staff and the Library of Congress's Teaching with Primary Sources program.

At the workshop, participating teachers will:

Learn how to get a $300 grant to implement History Day in your classroom
Find out How New York State History Day Staff can visit your classroom to help get you started
Receive training on how to search for New York resources on Library of Congress websites
Tour the NYSHA Research Library and see some of our primary sources
Have a free lunch on the terrace of the Fenimore Art Museum
Get free Yorkers Curriculum units for your classroom
Enjoy hands-on Activities

For more information and to register, contact:

John Buchinger
Assistant Director for Education
New York State Historical Association and The Farmers' Museum

Phone: 607-547-1476
Email: j.buchinger@nysha.org

2010 OAH Teacher of the Year Award

The Organization of American Historians sponsors an annual award to recognize the contributions made by precollegiate or classroom teachers to improve history education. The award, to be given for activities which enhance the intellectual development of other history teachers and/or students, memorializes the career of Mary K. Bonsteel Tachau, University of Louisville, for her pathbreaking efforts to build bridges between university and precollegiate history teachers.