WYE MILLS — Nearly 200 local middle and high school students participated in the annual regional history day event held once again at Chesapeake College. Organized by Queen Anne’s County Public Schools teacher Thomas Hayman, the March 23 event welcomed 30 area teachers and a troupe of volunteers who hosted six schools. Schools participating in this year’s included Caroline, Cecil, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties. This year’s theme was Turning Points in History.
Projects entered this year covered a wide range of topics, as students used a lot of creativity to make their cases. Topics covered included pop-culture history, topics related to women’s rights, the Great Depression, as well as improvement in technology and even the advent of fast-food and its impact on history.
The students work hard to get to this level of the competition, by first competing at the local level within their home school. The next step is this regional event, with the winners of this event invited to participate in the Maryland statewide competition. At each level judges provide feedback the students can use to improve their project for the next level of competition.
Hayman says the event started as an after-school program he became involved in when he first began his teaching career. As the number of students grew, and the national event began to take shape, local programs also grew. Eastern Shore counties previously had individual county level events, but decided to form a coalition in 2017 in order to be more competitive at the state level.
The plan worked — Hayman reports in the five years the Upper Shore Regional event has been held, two area students have gone on to compete in the national event. The regional event sends the top two from each category, from each county onto the state event. The state only sends the top two in each category onto the national event.
The event is offered in conjunction with National History Day and Maryland Humanities, and is intended to help foster a love of history in the students who participate. Students submit projects in five categories: Paper (Individual), Website, Performance, Documentary, and Exhibit. They can submit content as either individuals or in groups of up to five students. There are now three divisions — a youth division for students in the fifth grade, the Junior Division for students of grades six to eight and the Senior Division for students grades nine-12.
The regional event is funded by Maryland Humanities, who are also responsible for hosting the state event. Hayman says Chesapeake College also played a vital role, donating the space for the exhibits, presentations and performances free of charge — a location providing a more central location than previous venues. Food trucks rounded out the day’s festivities for the students.
These students make a choice to put in extra hours to work on their projects outside of their normal school work, Hayman said. Many of the students who participate, come back multiple years to compete, each year improving their research and presentation skills. The amount of effort and dedication these projects require rivals similar science contests.
While not all participants went home with an award, the judges handed out over 50 awards to the students, including: Sports History Award, Heritage Award, Natural History Award, Military History Award, Contemporary World History Award, African American History Award, Colonial History Award, Equality in History Award, Medical History Award, and the Chesapeake Bay/Maritime Award. First, second and third place finishes as well as Best in Region awards were also given in each category.
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