4/22/2009 3:50:00 PM History students compete at state
Submitted photo
Coupeville History Day students Joye Jackson, Heni Barnes, Laura Harkins and Kelly Snoden will compete at the state level April 25, with the help of program advisor Wilbur Purdue, right.
By Justin Burnett Examiner Staff Writer
For the Coupeville students taking part in this year's national History Day competition, the old adage, "quality is better than quantity," has never been more true.
Despite an unusually small turnout - just four students - all of their projects placed high enough at the regional competition in March to move on to competition at the state level in Auburn, set for April 25.
Coupeville seventh graders Joye Jackson and Heni Barnes took second in their division for their documentary on famous American chef and television personality Julia Child. Eighth grader Laura Harkins took first for her documentary on renowned photographer Edward S. Curtis, who documented the disappearing ways of life of Native Americans during the early 1900s. And Coupeville High School junior Kelly Snoden placed second for her paper on Charles Darwin, the English naturalist whose theories on natural selection served as the basis for evolutionary theory.
National History Day is an annual contest in which more than 500,000 elementary and secondary students from across the country compete. Each year's competition has a theme on which all participants must focus their projects.
Regional and state contests narrow the competition to about 5,000 students. They go on to compete at the national event, which is held each year at the University of Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C.
While competition is fierce, with only the best and most impressive projects making it to the national contest, Coupeville's contestants are no rookies. Laura Harkin, who is now competing in her third national History Day competition, took first place in the Junior Web Site category at the national event last year for the site she created on the Canadian government's cultural suppression of the Kwakwaka'wakw band.
Harkin said she felt pretty confident when competing at this year's regional contest. Experience can count for a lot, she said.
"A lot of people were doing projects for the first time," Harkin said.
But that's no reason to slack off, as Harkin's efforts demonstrate. So far, she has invested between 100 and 200 hours into her documentary.
If past competitions are any indication, it pays to go the extra mile.
For example, while historical documents can often be found on the Internet, reviewing them in person can reveal more than seeing them on a computer monitor. Harkin recently spent two and a half days digging through archives at Western Washington University's Center for Pacific Northwest Studies researching correspondence between her subject and a retired Seattle librarian.
"It speaks a lot more for your project if you actually go and see them," she said.
Fellow History Day partners Heni Barnes and Joye Jackson are no strangers to hard work, either, having put in at least 100 hours of work so far. According to Jackson, the two are doing everything from talk to Julia Child's nephew, New York resident Alex Prud'homme, to trying out recipes from Child's home video cooking series, "The French Chef."
"Me and my mom have been making omelets," Jackson laughed.
But it wasn't Child's cooking expertise that initially attracted the seventh graders. Before becoming an iconic American chef, Child led a fascinating and adventurous life of espionage during World War II.
"I thought she would be really cool because she used to be a spy for the U.S.," Barnes said.
Student Kelly Snoden said she was pretty sure the subject of her paper, Charles Darwin, was never a spy, but he is no less fascinating. While the 19th century naturalist is well known for scientific research that shed light on the process of evolution, many might be surprised to learn he was an abolitionist who included his views on slavery in many of his writings.
"That showed he wanted others to follow in his footsteps," she said.
Because this is Snoden's first year as a History Day competitor, she said she was surprised when she took second place at the regional competition. Despite her success, she admitted she is a little nervous about the upcoming state contest.
But even with all the hours she's put in - and the fact that the state competition is to be held on the same night as prom - History Day is an experience that should not be missed, she said.
"It was a lot of sleepless nights, but it was worth it," she said.
In preparation for the state competition, the Coupeville students, along with several Oak Harbor contestants, practiced their presentations before members of the Whidbey Island Nordic Lodge last weekend.
The Nordic Lodge is hosting a second practice presentation at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 22 at the Coupeville Recreation Hall, 901 NW Alexander St.
