Students in Field’s National History Day Club competed against more than 2,000 students in the National History Day Competition. The annual project-based competition centers around a unique theme, which requires students to do in-depth research and present their findings in the form of an essay, a website, a documentary, or a performance. This year’s theme was "Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History."
History Teacher Dr. Kim Yates and History Department Chair Steve Brennan started the club at Field this year as a way to prepare students who planned to enter the competition. They worked with them on honing their specific topics that connected to the theme and they discussed how to ask meaningful questions, evaluate sources more effectively, and distinguish between reliable and unreliable information.
The projects from Field students spanned a range of historical periods:
“The research area was up to the student, as long as they could draw tangible and original connections to the year's theme—students went in all directions," Steve said.
Students worked on their projects during Activity blocks over the course of the year and even had the opportunity to receive some verbal feedback from the Deputy Director of the DC History Center in February.
Three Field students placed in the competition and two will head to the National Competition in June. Congratulations to Alex ’31 and Noah ’31 for placing first in the Junior Essay and Junior Website categories, respectively. Duru ’28 placed third in the Senior Essay category. Steve says the research process for this competition lends itself to the history department’s focus on intellectual independence. “To see these guys using some of these skills in evaluating sources for bias and reliability, comparing multiple perspectives, constructing evidence-based arguments in such a personal and profound way was deeply heartening. They did some stellar work here that I hope they remember and are able to build on in years to come,” Brennan shared.
