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Ethan Greist Earns Title of Best Overall Entry for Maryland
After months of intensive research and success at regional level competitions, Allegany High School freshman, Ethan Greist, presented his project at the annual 2012 Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest held at the University of Maryland at College Park June 10-14, 2012, and was successful in being selected as the winner of the Best Overall Entry in the State of Maryland. More than 2,500 students from across the country participated in the contest.
Each fall more than half a million students nationwide begin working on the year-long National History Day program, competing in a series of history contests that begin at the local level. The top students in each category are selected for participation in the national contest. Participating students choose their own topics of study and research from original sources based on this year’s theme, Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History. The topic for Ethan’s documentary was the Ford Model-T.
National History Day students research historic documents and artifacts, conduct oral histories, search the internet for information on their topics, and travel to historic sites. After analyzing and interpreting their sources and drawing conclusions about their topics’ significance in history, students present their projects in the form of papers, websites, exhibits, performances, or documentaries.
More than 300 historians and other education professionals evaluate the students’ work at the national competition. Scholarships were awarded to select students, and approximately 100 students took home cash prizes between $250 and $5,000 for their work in a particular category of judging. This contest strives to help participants gain critical thinking and problem-solving skills, research and reading skills, oral and written communication and presentation skills and build self-esteem and confidence.
The National History Day Contest is sponsored by the American Association for State and Local History, the American Historical Association, the Federation of State Humanities Councils, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Center for History in the Schools, the National Council for History Education, the National Council on Public History, the National Council for the Social Studies, the Organization of American Historians, and the Society of American Archives.
Ethan’s trip to the National History Day Contest was funded by the Board of Education and supported by the administration at Allegany High School. For more information on the National History Day Contest, visit www.nhd.org.
Pictured: (front) Tammy Twigg, Social Studies teacher at Allegany High School; Ethan Greist; Mike Calhoun, Principal Allegany High School; (back) Dr. David Cox, Superintendent Allegany County Public Schools; Kim Greist, Ethan’s mother.
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