Washington Winners at the National Contest

Hello History Day Fans,

Sorry for the long delay, but today was spent trying to recover from jet-lag. That east to west is always a bit tough, but worth it!!

In case you haven't heard, WA did pretty well this year at the national contest. Here's a recap.

Washington State took first in the nation in the Senior Individual Documentary category. The student, Samhita Karnati is from Redmond Junior High School. The title of her documentary is, “What was Promised? Northwest Indian Fishing Rights Debated.” This is one of the top prizes at the national contest, is sponsored by the History Channel and comes with a very nice cash award. Way to go Samhita.

We also took first in the nation in the Senior Group Website category. The students, Jessica Jin, Anastasiya Kirichuk from International Community School in Kirkland. The title of their website is, “Freeing the Elwha: Debating the Future of America’s Watersheds.”

We took second place in the nation in the Senior Group Documentary category. The student’s, Maya Balakrishnan, Tara Balakrishnan, Anand Raghuraman, Tian Kisch, and Raluca Ifrim. The students attend Redmond High School. The title of their documentary is, “From Isolation to Empire: The Aftermath of the Spanish American War.” 

We took third place in the Junior Individual Website category. The student, Megan Messer attends Timbercrest Junior High in Woodinville. The title of her website is, “The Treaty of Versailles.”

As a state delegation we took 54 students to College Park to compete this year, and that amounted to 36 actual projects with some being in the group category and some being in the individual category. Of the 36 projects, 14 made it into the second or final round. As you have read above, we had 4 category winners and it should also be noted that we had 2 juniors and 1 senior project that finished in 4th place, just out of the medals. 

This was a really fun year for Team Washington as everyone supported one another and everyone had a great time. Team cohesion was strong and evident as was seen in the audience of finals rounds competitions. WA team members really turned out in support of their fellow team participants. 

Really proud of Team WA this year and looking forward to next year. 

Thank you all and have a great summer.

Seniors big day...

Howdy History Fans,

Today was the follow up to yesterday's big senior day with the senior finals for documentaries and performances. We had two docs and two perfs to watch and boy were they great! The two performances did a great job and got some really nice crowd applause as did our two early morning docs. The kids were very excited after their judge times and were also relieved to have it done. They are now just waiting to see the results tomorrow at the big awards ceremony.

After that we all pretty much left campus to enjoy our last afternoon of sight seeing in DC before the big reception held at the National Museum of American History. The reception was also quite nice with a picnic style dinner provided to all of the guests. My rough estimate would be somewhere over 3,000 people attending the event. It was a lot of fun to stroll through the museum and see the 50 or so exhibits that were transported over to the museum first thing this morning.

We are now getting ready to start the 6th annual multi media festival in the dorm lounge. I hope people can stay awake after that long day today. We are also going to pass out the awards for the dorm door decorating contest. :-)  Should be lots of fun.

Happy History Day everyone!

History Day from the Other Side

Hi Everyone, This is Len taking over for a bit. This is my second trip to the National contest and it is just as crazy as I remember it. There are a ton of kids here and the atmosphere is crackling with so much energy it could probably power a small town if it could be harnessed.

I've spent the last two days going out an supporting Team Washington and I'm not at all biased when I say we bring some great kids who have a ton of talent. Tomorrow we are all going down to support the Senior Finalists and then hitting the town for the Night at the Museum Reception at the American History Museum. I'll be sure to take my camera so we can post some pictures of Team Washington partying it up museum style.

Wish us luck! Team Washington out.

Another fine day...

Hello Washington History Fans,

More GOOD NEWS from College Park to report. We have four senior projects moving on to finals tomorrow!! Way to go seniors!

In the finals for group documentary we have our Redmond, (Redmond High School) team beginning the day at 8:45, followed by our individual documentary from Redmond, (RHS) taking center stage at 9:15. Then we will move on to see our first of two group performances of the day. On tap at 10:30 we have our team from International Community School, (Kirkland) followed at 11:30 by our Coupeville, (Coupeville High School) team. Good job seniors and good luck in finals.

Today was also a busy day for our junior finalist with their final round competitions happening this evening. We did our best to fill the audience with as many Washington delegation members as we could and all competitors had strong team support.

Weather today was ideal, calm and in the 80s for most of the day with a slight breeze in the evening. Couldn't ask for a more perfect weather day.

It's been another long day here in College Park and we have a long day ahead of tomorrow as well. After the senior competitions we are all leaving for DC to take in the last bit of sight seeing before heading over to the National Museum of American History for an evening reception. We have a senior group exhibit from Stanwood that will be on display all day at the museum. Truly an honor to be selected to display their exhibit and we are all very proud of them.

Until tomorrow...

Happy History Day everyone!!

Monday - Junior excitement...

Hello Everyone,

Exciting day today for our juniors!! We had 4 projects make it to finals!!  Way to go Team WA!!!

Two of our group documentaries, one individual documentary and one group performance have moved on to the next round and will compete Tuesday night in finals. :-)

Tonight was also the student dance and if you have been following the action on our Facebook page, you have probably seen a few of the pictures from all of the excitement.

We are now being treated to a two thousand year old traditional Indian dance. The girls are actually practicing for performance this upcoming Saturday when they return to WA.

It's getting late here and time to sign off.

Until tomorrow...

Go Team WA!

Sunday at the National Contest

Hi Washington History Fans,

Today was a busy day on campus and in DC.

On campus today we saw some real busy activity in the exhibit hall with juniors and seniors setting up their exhibits and I'm happy to report that all of the Washington students got their exhibits in place and looking good! Go Team WA! The students were also busy getting themselves registered for the contest before tomorrow. The The Stamp Student Union was a mad house of activity!  FUN!!

After everyone finished with busy time on campus they all headed for DC and a fun day of sight seeing before catching the night tour tonight. From what I've been told, it was a great tour. We had 90+ people divided between the two buses and everyone had great things to say about the tour. Check out some of the pictures on our Facebook page. www.facebook.com/washingtonhistoryday

While everyone was in town, I stayed behind and represented Team WA at the opening ceremonies. Being the only WA person in the crowd I was thankful to have my friends from Wisconsin by my side cheering loudly when Washington state was announced. :-)   Thanks WI!

The night is winding down and there's still some pretty active button trading in the halls.

Big day ahead of us tomorrow. Juniors on parade!! Go Juniors and Go Team WA!!!

Watch for tomorrow's update!

We made it...

Hello Washington History Fans,

Happy to report that most of team WA has arrived safe and sound here in College Park. We do have a few people missing luggage though, sure hope it arrives soon. Hard to live out of a carry-on.

The heat is as you would expect it to be, HOT and humid, but we are adapting well. We are also making new friends with the other states in our building and the kids are frantically trading buttons as you'd expect. They are trying to figure out who has the coolest buttons and how hard it will be to get the Oregon button!

It's getting late here and we are all crashing out for the night. Big Sunday tomorrow with a morning meeting, exhibit set up, registration and of course more button trading. The night will culminate with a fun evening tour of monuments!

Thanks to everyone and more later,

Team WA

National Contest around the corner...

Hello Washington History Day fans,

Here we are in the final week before leaving for the big national contest in College Park, Maryland, are you ready? Do you have your tooth brush packed? What about your fan? Or sunscreen?

It's Tuesday and in Olympia the temperature is 57, while in College Park the temperature is 90! Be ready for some hot weather and high humidity. Check the ten day forecast to get a better idea of what kind of clothes to bring. Be sure to also bring your comfortable walking shoes as you will be lots of walking next week.

We're in the last minute preparation stages here and looking forward to a fun and exciting trip this year.

See you all very soon.

Go Team Washington!!