Twenty-five middle and high school students from New York’s North Country District won top prizes at the North Country History Day that took place on Saturday, March 4th at Fort Ticonderoga. The event was held in the Mars Education Center. These students will advance to compete at the New York State History Day in Cooperstown on April 24th.
“It is so rewarding to see students so passionate about history,” said Rich Strum, Fort Ticonderoga’s Director of Education and North Country’s Regional Coordinator for New York State History Day. “History Day provides students with an opportunity to delve into a topic which interests them while also relating to an annual theme. This year’s theme is ‘Taking a Stand in History.’ Students explored a number of historic events, eras, and people that reflected that theme.”
National History Day is the nation’s leading program for history education in schools. The program annually engages 2 million people in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam.
Teachers and students from Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, St. Lawrence, and Warren counties interested in participating in North Country History Day during the 2017-18 school year should contact Rich Strum at rstrum@fort-ticonderoga.org or at (518) 585-6370. Next year’s timeline is “Conflict and Compromise in History.”
Junior Division (Grades 6-8) North Country Regional winners include:
- Leylanis Perez, from Gouverneur Central School, placed first in the Historical Paper category with her paper “The Civil War: From Preserving the Union to Abolition.”
- Aiden Breckenridge, Cole Siebels, and Christopher Weaver, from Gouverneur Central School, placed first in the Group Documentary category with their documentary “The Twentieth Maine and the Stand that Saved the Union.”
- Kolby Wells and Lauren McCarthy, from Gouverneur Central School, placed first in the Group Performance category with their performance “Malala Yousafzai: Standing Up for Girls’ Education around the Globe.”
- Jaelyn Stevens, Sean Farrand, and Felicia Tallon, from Gouverneur Central School, placed second in the Group Performance category with their performance “Stand Up for Civil Rights Talk Show.”
- Kathryn Moran, from St. Mary’s School in Ticonderoga, placed first in the Individual Exhibit category with her exhibit “Rosa Parks.”
- Riley Seaman, from Gouverneur Central School, placed second in the Individual Exhibit category with her exhibit “Queen Elizabeth I Takes a Stand for England.”
- Janay Smith and Grace Mashaw, from Gouverneur Central School, placed first in the Group Exhibit category with their exhibit “The Civil War and Abraham Lincoln’s Stand Against Slavery.”
- Randi Griffith, Elizabeth Riutta, and Drew Jenkins, from Gouverneur Central School, placed second in the Group Exhibit category with their exhibit “Hippocrates Takes a Stand.”
- Alex Clancy, from Gouverneur Central School, placed first in the Individual Website category with his website “Susan B. Anthony: Taking a Stand for Women’s Rights.”
- Skylar Barber, from St. Mary’s School in Ticonderoga, placed second in the Individual Website category with her website “Protecting the Environment: The Establishment of the National Park Service.”
- Clayton Wilhelm and Jackson Wilhelm, homeschool students from Glens Falls, New York, placed first in the Group Website category with their website “How Men Stood Up for Women.”
Senior Division (Grades 9-12) North Country Regional winners include:
- Jacob Andre, from Peru Central School, placed first in the Historical Paper category with his paper “John Brown and the Fight for Freedom: The Events that Sparked a Country’s Divide.”
- Ray Bryant, from Moriah Central School, placed first in the Individual Documentary category with his documentary “The Burden of a Generation.”
- Grace Sayward, Liam Sayward, Trent Yourdon, and Ben Caito, homeschool students from Essex and Clinton counties, placed first in the Group Documentary category with their documentary “Fanny Hall.”
- Nicholad Manfred, Sophie Bryant, and Samantha Staples, from Moriah Central School, placed first in the Group Exhibit category for their exhibit “The Awakening of Omniscience: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Stance Against the Gulag.”
- Mackenzie Peters, Jonathan Gibbs, Sarah Anderson, and Dyani Bryant, from Moriah Central School, placed second in the Group Exhibit category for their exhibit “Malala, the Girl Who did the Unthinkable.”
A special prize for the best use of primary sources, sponsored by the New York State Archives and the New York State Archives Partnership, was awarded to Grace Sayward, Liam Sayward, Trent Yourdon, and Ben Caito, from North Country Homeschoolers, for their documentary “Fanny Hall.” A special prize for the Junior Division entry that best addressed the theme of “Taking a Stand in History, sponsored by the Adirondack Torch Club, was awarded to Randi Griffith, Elizabeth Riutta, and Drew Jenkins, from Gouverneur Central School, for their exhibit “Hippocrates Takes a Stand.”
Participating schools included Gouverneur Central School, Moriah Central School, Peru Central School, and St. Mary’s School (Ticonderoga) as well as home school students from North Country Homeschooling in Clinton County and Edison Academy Homeschool in Warren County.
America’s Fort is a registered trademark of the Fort Ticonderoga Association.
Photo: Credit: Fort Ticonderoga. Grace Mashaw and Janay Smith, from Gouverneur Central School, placed first in the Group Exhibit category with their exhibit “The Civil War and Abraham Lincoln’s Stand Against Slavery” during the 2017 North Country History Day at Fort Ticonderoga.