SUNY Oneonta to host New York State History Day competition Monday

Apr. 21—Students from across the state will compete in the New York State History Day Monday, April 24, at SUNY Oneonta.

The students presenting their work at NYSHD have competed in local and regional competitions and will compete for a chance to go to Maryland and Washington D.C. in June to compete in the National History Day competition.

"The great thing about history day is students get to pick their own topic," Cooperstown Graduate Program Director Gretchen Sorin said. "It keeps them interested and engaged."

Sorin said many times, students choose a topic that is pertinent to the local community. She said students use primary resources to research their topics, which shows them how to find evidence and evaluate that evidence for their project.

This year's contest theme, "Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas," invites students to explore topics in the history of science, art, technology, medicine, religion, politics, social change and the military, a media release said. Throughout the daylong event, the students will present their research and findings in five categories: documentary, website, paper, exhibit or performance. Volunteer judges will meet with the contest entrants one on one or in small groups to see and learn about their presentations. At the end of the day, awards for the best entries in each category, along with several special awards, will be announced.

Through their presentations students will show the "ingenuity, creativity and grit" it took by people to shape the nation, Sorin said. "It could be 'Star Trek' which broke racial barriers or Selman Waksman, who discovered that soil in New Jersey contained streptomycin that cured tuberculosis," she said.

August Stromberger, a Cooperstown Graduate Program student, said a lot of the projects this year focus on Civil Rights and women's rights. He said some of the topics that will be presented Monday are Latinos integrating in baseball, Brown vs. Board of Education, the Little Rock Nine, Jesse Owens and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stromberger said students will be interviewed by the judges about their topics for 10 minutes and the group presentation with the exhibit is another 10 minutes. Sorin said 360 students will participate and there are 100 judges from across the state who volunteered their time.

"Students who participate in National History Day are more confident," Sorin said. "They learn how to study history and use their critical thinking skills. These skills will follow them throughout their lives."

The competition presentations will be held from 9:15 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 3:30 p.m. for any student who didn't present in the morning at the following locations: Hunt Union (documentaries), Fitzelle Hall (papers), Schumacher Hall (performances), Morris Conference center (websites) and Alumni Field House (exhibitions), the release said. Awards will be given from 5 to 6:15 p.m.

In between the presentations and the awards ceremony, students, their teachers and families will have the opportunity to explore Oneonta. "I think this is great for Oneonta," she said. "Students coming from far away like Buffalo and New York City, their teachers and parents are staying in hotels and eating in local restaurants. It's a great thing for the city before the summer tourism season starts."

SUNY Oneonta announced last year its Cooperstown Graduate Program will serve as the affiliate sponsor of New York State's History Day.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.