Students shine at National History Day

Uniontown Junior Senior High School students (from left) Jessica Schaaf, Koltan Schaaf, Courtney Boyd, and Kylie Shepard recently won the Kansas award for the top project in the senior division of the National History Day Championships on June 10-14 in College Park, Md. The group were four of 11 UJSHS students who participated in the competition. The exhibit, titled 'This Little Light of Mine' detailed the life of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Submitted photo

UJSHS student Emily Simpson, another local student who competed at National History Day, is pictured here at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. with her individual exhibit that outlines the story of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and soil conservation efforts that followed. Simpson's project was chosen for display inside the National Archives Building, which also houses important historical documents such as the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. Submitted photo

A group of Uniontown Junior Senior High School students received the award for the top project in Kansas in their division at the National History Day Championships on June 10-14 in College Park, Md.

UJSHS students Jessica Schaaf, Koltan Schaaf, Courtney Boyd and Kylie Shepard, and their group exhibit on the life of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, titled "This Little Light of Mine," were chosen as the winners of the Kansas Award in the senior division at the recent national competition, UJSHS instructor Norm Conard said in a written statement.

Eleven UJSHS state champions participated in National History Day. Conard and UJSHS instructor Sara Jackman guided the students as they conceived and created their projects.

The group's project detailed the story of Fannie Lou Hamer, a courageous, powerful force in the civil rights movement that took place during the 1950s and 1960s. The students used primary sources, such as people who participated in the movement with Hamer, to complete the exhibit. The title of their project reflects a spiritual theme, and the song from which it is derived became a Civil Rights anthem.

UJSHS student Emily Simpson was also recognized at the national competition for her individual exhibit about the dust storms that struck the Great Plains during the 1930s. Simpson's project uses photographs, articles, quotes, artifacts and other media to show the triumph of the great plow up on the Great Plains, the tragedy of the Dust Bowl, and the triumph of new soil conservation practices that were put into place to prevent another similar environmental disaster.

Other competitors who received superior ratings were UJSHS students Travis Stewart, Gage McKinnis, Melissa Query, Kate Spainhoward and Kate Smith for their group performance that tells the story of Matylda Getter, a courageous woman who ran five convents and saved hundreds of children during the Holocaust. The group conducted numerous primary interviews with Holocaust survivors, including Stefanie Seltzer, the president of the World Federation of Child Survivors. One of those survivors attended their presentation in Maryland.

UJSHS student Rebekah DeMoss received a superior rating for her individual performance about Stefania Podgorska, a 17-year-old Polish girl who rescued 13 people during the Holocaust. Through research, DeMoss discovered Podgorska's incredible achievement of hiding Jewish people in an attic. Her research included interviews with child survivors. DeMoss also spent time with Podgorska, who lives in California.

Fort Scott Middle School student Taylor Bailey was another local state champion who competed at the national level. Her junior individual performance was about a woman who was a typhoid carrier and her fight to live a normal life. The woman was sent to an island to live, much as lepers were during Biblical times. Bailey's project depicts the woman's anguish, and how New York City officials tried to protect its residents from the dreaded disease.