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National History Day 2004 Finals

Monday, June 14

Junior Presentations!

Wisconsin makes the final rounds!

What a day! While most senior division students toured Washington D.C., juniors presented their projects. The Wisconsin juniors did wonderful work and our delegation is very proud of each and every one them. Special congratulations go to individual documentary student Mark Van de Loo and group documentary students Emily Wermund and Amber Will, whose projects will go on to the prestigious final round of competition. Mark, a Kolbe Academy Home School student from Eau Claire, will present his documentary, “Arthur Collins: His Giant Leap for Mankind” Tuesday evening for final round judges in the individual category. Emily and Amber, students from D.C. Everest Junior High School in Schofield, will show their project, “Little Rock Crisis: African-Americans Encountering Southern Public School Systems” in the group category. (Finalists in the exhibit and paper categories will be announced on Thursday.)

Tuesday, seniors are up for juding and juniors head to D.C. Tune in again tomorrow!

Emma and Sarah
Team Wisconsin Coordinators

Ashley Stabenow, of Northstar Middle
School in Eau Claire, waits in
the hallway with her mom before
her performance.

I had a great day on campus today. I’m having a blast here, even though my feet are sore and I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired before! But that’s okay. The button trading is harsh! I have almost every one! I am only missing five! So now it’s getting down to the nitty gritty, but it’s really fun! Today I wandered around campus. I went to the barns and saw the horses. I also saw some sheep! Then we went to my judging session. I was pretty nervous but I think I did a good job. When I was done, I stayed and watched some of the other performances. After that, I went over to the library to see some documentaries. Then I went to the University Bookstore and looked around. After a while I went over to the exhibit hall and walked around. I know I have to go back there! I was there for probably half an hour and I only saw about 10 exhibits! Lastly, I went over to the dance at the Armory and ended my day by doing the ever constant here: trading more buttons.

Ashley Stabenow
Northstar Middle School, Eau Claire

Joe Luebke and Jake Kapellen of
Sheboygan North High School
stand proud with their pink flamingo
door decorations.

Today (Monday) we went into DC and we went on a comprehensive guided tour. The first place we went to was Arlington National Cemetery. This was really interesting because it is a hallowed ground with many respectful heroes. It was really interesting because we could hear “taps” being played every 20 minutes or so for the newly buried soldiers fighting in Iraq, and we got to witness the Changing of the Guard. Next, we visited the Ford’s Theater and the Petersen House. This was very fun because we learned lot about Lincoln and his famous assassination. Unfortunately, the guide in the Petersen House conceded that nothing in the house was authentic with the exception of the house itself. That was moderately depressing, but our visit of the Smithsonian made up for it. We also stopped at the National Archives to see the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. It was really fascinating.

Our NHD experience thus far has been awesome. Everywhere we go, there’s some History Day student from another state there too. It’s been great meeting all of the new people from all over the country (we even got to chill with some people from the Aloha State). We got to jog to the Comcast Center and enter the stadium. Then I [Joe] had a Hoosiers moment when I walked on the court. I wanted to measure the hoop and free throw line. This was awesome.

Signing Off,
“The guys with the pink flamingo,”
Jake Kapellen and Joe Luebke
Sheboygan North High School

The D.C. Everest, Lancaster, and
Antigo crew at the White House!
Photo: Michael Blood

Well this is what happened with some of the students and staff from Antigo High School and DC Everest High School on 6/14/04. We got on the Metro today at 9:00am and went to Arlington National Cemetery, after looking at JFK’s grave and watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier we walked (yes walked in the DC heat and humidity) across the Potomac to the Lincoln Memorial. We ate a box lunch then checked out the Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, WW II Memorial, The White House, and finally the Jefferson Memorial. Again this was all on foot and with a great bunch of young ladies from Antigo and Schofield. Today helped us realize that History Day is not just about the competition, but also about the amazing history to be found in this fantastic city. Letters by The Wall, tears that well up at the sound of Taps in the National Cemetery, and masses of people at the WWII Memorial all helped us understand why the history our competitors study is not just an academic pursuit, but also part of what makes us understand the “big picture.” The picture that makes us connect with each other as Americans and the rest of our human family. The teachers on this little side trip were very proud of the students that understood the emotion and the history of all of the sites we visited. A day that leaves you exhausted but really pleased in the students and staff that are here at National History Day. Thanks to Adrienne Feirer and Jeff Bergstrom from DC Everest for all of their help!

Michael Blood
Antigo High School

Casie Purdeu, of D.C. Everest
Middle School, presented her
individual documentary today about
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

Hey Everyone! History Day rocks my world! Literally. Today was my day to present my documentary, which was about Buffalo Bill and a western show that he created. I was a tad bit nervous but I made it through! The judges seemed a little intimidating but over all things went well. After the presenting was finally done, I went touring. That was one of the best parts of all. Not only are we here to compete but we are here to sight-see and where else to go except a city in our nation where the majority of our history in our textbooks took place. All the cool monuments and museums available throughout the day really allow us to expand our knowledge on all the great history of our country.

Emma and Sarah told us to write on how History Day has affected our lives or what we think of it. I personally think ROCKS! You have tons of fun even at the beginning competitions in your own state but then, you get out here and it is a real blast. Not only do I actually pay attention in history class now, I actually want to learn more about it. I want to go beyond the little wimpy preliminary research textbook and find primary sources and first hand reference. I am intrigued with history on whatever topic in whatever time period. History is where this nation and world came about to where it is today. That is AMAZING! My advice for people who are interested in competing in History Day are try your best, don’t procrastinate and just have fun learning about history. You truly learn to appreciate what history is all about.

Did I keep it clean, Emma?

Casie Purdeu
D.C. Everest Junior High

Mike Deml, Katie Kennedy, Katlyn
Simon, Kendra Blochwitz, and
Sam Schroeder of Holmen Middle
School are interviewed by their
judging panel after their
performance today.

Emma checks out the Grand Ballroom,
which is full of exhibits.

"The Iceman" exhibit in the Grand
Ballroom by Melanie Iverson, Kelsey
Jamison, and Jennifer Mathison of
Hudson Middle School

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