Published: March 31, 2009 01:19 pm      

Richmond students win history awards

Three Madison Central High School students and a Model Laboratory School student won awards at the 2009 Kentucky’s National History Day contests earlier this month.

The Central students won awards March 21 at the district 5 contest, conducted at Eastern Kentucky University.

Five schools and more than 40 students participated in the contest in hopes of advancing to the state competition, scheduled for April 18 in Frankfort.

Charlie Chaplin and Heather Grimes of Madison Central High School placed second in the senior division of the group documentary category for “Secret Soldier.” James Ramsey, also a student at Madison Central, won first place in the senior division and a Kentucky History Award for his individual documentary, “The Compromiser.”

Hannah Durbin, a Model student, competed on March 20 at the district 8 contest at Southeast Kentucky Technical and Community College of Cumberland.

Four schools and more than 60 students competed.

Durbin placed first in the junior division in the Web site category for “Ronald Reagan: The Doomsday Clock Caretaker.” Students in grades six through eight competed in the junior division, and high school students competed in the senior division. Project categories included individual and group documentary, individual and group performance, individual and group exhibit, paper and Web site. The top three finishers in each category received a medal and will advance to the state competition.

“Students who participate in National History Day not only achieve academically, but they also become very enthusiastic about history,” said NHD state coordinator Kate Hesseldenz of the Kentucky Historical Society. “Students get so immersed in their topics that they become engaged with history.”

The NHD program is an annual, year-long program designed to promote the teaching and learning of history in America’s schools. Students analyze the historical significance of their topics and present conclusions in dramatic performances, imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries, Web sites and research papers to audiences throughout the country.

In Kentucky, the program is coordinated by the Kentucky Historical Society. Each spring, district coordinators organize eight district contests, with around 2,500 students participating in the program statewide, which leads to the state competition. The NHD program culminates with the national competition at the University of Maryland each June. The theme for this year’s contest is “The Individual in History: Actions and Legacies.”

For more information on Kentucky's National History Day, visit the KHS Web site at www.history.ky.gov.