Irvine students seek funding to travel, compete in National History Day

Students from an Irvine middle school this year won a California competition for National History Day and are asking the public to help them raise funds to participate in the national contest.

The National History Day program involves about half a million students and tens of thousands of teachers across the country, including its programs in professional development. Students in grades 6-12 pick a topic and research it extensively, eventually presenting their findings in papers and performances to be judged by historians and educators.

Students from Sierra Vista Middle School in Irvine won the competition at the state level and are headed to nationals, June 9-13 at the University of Maryland. They are sending 14 students with eight projects - but they need funding to send their teacher along as well.

They have set up a GoFundMe asking the public to help.

"Please donate," student Audrey Kim said. "It's gonna help us a lot to bring our teacher to nationals."