Understanding and interpreting some of history’s greatest conflicts and compromises was the objective. Seeing months of hard work and creative thinking pay off is the reward.

Thomas County Central High School held its National History Day competition Tuesday, Feb. 6. Winners were selected in a variety of categories and special awards were presented to specific projects.

“Although we had a smaller overall contest this year, we had some outstanding projects, including performances and websites,” TCCHS history teacher and NHD advisor Christine Patton said. “Winning projects included how moonshiners led to NASCAR racing, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and their fight with CBS, Ronald Reagan and the Berlin Wall, and the Tuskegee Experiment of World War II.”

Categories included museum exhibits, websites, performances, historical papers and documentaries. New this year were special recognitions from local organizations presented to exemplary projects within specific historical categories.

This year’s theme is “Conflict and Compromise in History.” Questions students considered included what happens when compromise does not prevent conflict, how can compromise help to end conflict, and what happens if a failed compromise leads to an even greater conflict. 

Freshman Megan Clark is part of the team who received first place in both group performance and was named overall school winner, an award sponsored by the Thomasville Historical Center.

“We chose to do Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball and their conflicts and compromises when creating ‘I Love Lucy,’” Clark explains. “It was a very unique topic, and I felt like no one else would’ve tried to do it. I’m very proud that we won first in group performance and won the competition overall. I’ve participated in NHD before but never won.”

Ninth graders Mya Cooney, De’Asia Daniels and Sanaa Harris also earned two awards for their project, “The Tuskegee Experiment: Conflict and Compromise.” They received first place in group website and a special African-American History Award presented by the Jack Hadley Black History Museum.

The students say they chose their topic because it is one they feel not many people know about. They are extremely happy with their placement.

Jenaya Tyler won first place in individual website for her topic, “The Conflict and Compromise of the Origin of Stock Car Racing.” She feels her project stood out because it’s unusual to find one that deals with both alcohol and stock car racing.

“Basically, moonshining evolved into stock car racing, which lessened the conflict and into a compromise,” she said.

Tyler feels good about her win; she’s gone to state twice and nationals once in previous years. She plans to familiarize herself with more facts and statistics on her topic for state competition this year.

Judges included history teachers within Thomas County Schools and special guest judges. They spent Tuesday morning analyzing and assessing the presented projects.

“The qualities I look for in a winning project are the presentation of facts and the students’ presentation of the connection to the year’s theme,” guest judge JaMarcus Underwood, education director at the Jack Hadley Black History Museum, said.

Fellow guest judge Gregory Smith found the quality of this year’s projects impressive.

“I look for what moved the student to pick the topic and why they think it has significance in history,” Smith said. “The theme of conflict and compromise was fully evident in the best projects.”

Smith, an adjunct professor at St. Leo University, appreciates the opportunity to take part in the NHD program.

“NHD allows a student to pick a topic to intensively research, which allows very thoughtful analysis,” he said. “It is gratifying to see the students’ effort in the study of historical events.”

Patton says the process in her classroom begins at the beginning of the academic year with topic selection and streamlining it to fit the year’s theme. Students do months of hard work as they research and find sources to prove their theses. 

According to the official NHD website, NHD “teaches critical thinking, writing, and research skills and boosts performance across all subjects. By participating in NHD, students become writers, filmmakers, web designers, playwrights and artists as they create unique contemporary expressions of history."

“It’s important to learn about history, and it also helps with other school-related activities,” Clark says. “I learned from this experience that if you keep trying, then you’ll do amazing in the future.”

All winners of the TCCHS region event have the opportunity to advance to state competition. This will be held at Mercer University April 21. Students will spend the time between now and then using the judges’ remarks to improve their projects.

 

 

TCCHS National History Day 2018 Winners

 

Group Exhibit

1^st ~ Chandler Craven and Eli McCabe

 

Individual Exhibit

1^st ~ Emily Johnson

2^nd ~ Brooklyn Reese

 

Group Website

1^st ~ Mya Cooney, De’Asia Daniels, Sanaa Harris

2^nd ~ Abby Allensworth, Tristin Lawler

 

Individual Website

1^st ~ Jenaya Tyler

2^nd ~ Ann Guo

 

Individual Performance

1^st ~ Stephen Sykes

 

Group Performance

1^st ~ Megan Clark, Sydney Smith, Cameron Parker

 

Historical Paper

1^st ~ Danielle Sauls

 

Women’s History Award (presented by the Junior Service League of Thomasville)

~ Danielle Sauls for her paper on the Women’s Auxiliary Corps

 

African-American History Award (presented by the Jack Hadley Black History Museum)

~ Mya Cooney, De’Asia Daniels, Sanaa Harris for “The Tuskegee Experiment”

 

Economics Award (presented by Edward Jones of Thomasville)

~ Stephen Sykes for “Reagan and the Berlin Wall”

 

100^th anniversary of U.S. involvement in World War I Award (presented by Georgia World War I Centennial Commission)

~ Brooklyn Reese for “The Hello Girls”

 

Overall school winner (presented by Thomasville History Center)

~ Megan Clark, Sydney Smith and Cameron Parker for “Ball and Arnaz: The Rise of Desilu”