State National History Day competition winners on April 5, 2014
Cambridge National History Day Scholars made history again on Saturday, April 5 at the State National History Day competition, taking home the largest number of awards Cambridge has ever won, and sending a student to the national competition in Washington, D.C. Three middle school students from three of the upper schools and four CRLS students submitted their projects to judges. Maya Parry from Putnam Ave Upper School presented an Individual Performance on Abigail May Alcott (Mother of Louisa May Alcott). Zev Dickstein from Cambridge Street Upper School prepared an Individual Documentary on the topic of PACS and Campaign Finance. Jason Vanger from Rindge Ave wrote a research paper on the Hitler Youth. Desiree Campbell, Isabel Goldstein, Elizabeth Kubicek, and Sophia Gottlieb from CRLS prepared a Group Performance entitled:“AIDS: The Rights of the People and the Responsibility of the Government.”
“It was a very exciting day for all who took part, and we learned so much about a broad range of history. The dedication and hard work of all of these scholars representing schools from across the state is truly inspirational,” said Paula Feynman, Academic Challenge and Enrichment for Cambridge.
Each year, more than half a million students participate in the NHD contest. They choose historical topics related to a theme and conduct extensive primary and secondary research through libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews, and historic sites. Students present their work in original papers, websites, exhibits, performances, and documentaries. The theme this year was “Rights and Responsibilities in History.” This year’s state finals were the largest competition ever, with over 350 student participants. The following Cambridge students entered projects in the state competition:
CRLS
Desiree Campbell, Isabel Goldstein Elizabeth Kubicek, Sophia Gottlieb “AIDS: The Rights of the People and the Responsibility of the Government.” (group performance) Honorable Mention
Putnam Ave Upper School
Maya Parry (performance) “Marmee Alcott: Weighing out Womanhood” - First Place (She will go on to Washington, D.C. for the national competition), and Massachusetts Historical Society Best Entry on Massachusetts History
Cambridge St. Upper School
Zev Dickstein Documentary: “The History of Campaign Finance” Honorable Mention
Rindge Ave Upper School
Jason Vanger (research paper) “The Hitler Youth; Responsibility over Rights”
District National History Day competition winners on March 1, 2014
Cambridge National History Day Scholars made some history of their own on Saturday, March 1 at the district National History Day competition, sending the largest number of projects Cambridge has ever sent. Eight middle school students from three of the upper schools submitted their projects to judges. Four of the middle school students won awards and will be presenting their work at the state finals in April! “It was a very exciting day,” said Paula Feynman, Academic Challenge and Enrichment Manager for the Cambridge Public Schools, “the district coordinator remarked that she had never seen so many projects proceed to the state finals from schools that were entering for the first-time. We were screaming and shouting and cheering in the auditorium when they announced the winners. It was very exciting to see people so excited about history.”
Each year, more than half a million students participate in the NHD contest. They choose historical topics related to a theme and conduct extensive primary and secondary research through libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews, and historic sites. Students present their work in original papers, websites, exhibits, performances, and documentaries. The theme this year was “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”
Putnam Ave Upper School
Anders Knudsen and Juan Salazar Cardona: “The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: The Right to Bear Arms” (group website)
Graham Codd: “Wounded Knee: Loss of Indian Rights” (individual website)
Maya Parry: “Marmee Alcott: Weighing out Womanhood” (performance) - Second Place
Cambridge St. Upper School
Sam Kravitz: “The Russian Constitution” (exhibit) - Honorable Mention
Zev Dickstein: Documentary: “The History of Campaign Finance” - First Place
Alice Jacob: “The Longitude Problem” (exhibit)
Rindge Ave Upper School
Jason Vanger: “The Hitler Youth; Responsibility over Rights” (research paper) - Second Place
Maya, Zev, and Jason will be going to the State Finals on April 5!
Special thanks to the teachers at the Media Arts Studio for their skilled support of student documentary work.