Back Online

Greetings fans of Washington History Day,

Thanks to the good folks in IT at Blogger and Google, the Washington History Day Blog is officially back. In the next few weeks I’ll be posting updates about Team Washington’s progress towards nationals.

This week was all about  buttons – all 5,000 are bagged and ready for trading. We have quite the team button enthusiasts this year, and I was a little concerned that I had not ordered enough to meet the high demand. But we made it and with fifty spare!  I'm excited to see which other designs our team is able to collect next month, but there's still much planning and preparation to do in the mean time. Next week's goal -- t-shirt sorting and folding.  

Kindly, 

Katie, your State Coordinator

WA Students coming home with some hardware...

Hello Washington History Day Fans,

Good news from the 2017 National Contest, we have some students coming home with medals!

Two golds and one silver to be exact! YAY Team!

In the Junior Division we have Ananya Nandula, Ananya Ganapathi and Layasri Ranjith bringing home the gold in Junior Group Documentary for their doc on "The Tuskegee Airmen: Courage Knows No Color." They are from Evergreen Middle School in Sammamish, Washington.
We also have Vidyut Baskar and Pranav Sheokand bringing home the silver for their Junior Group Exhibit on, "In a League of Thier Own: How Ludwig Guttmann's Paralympics Put the 'Ability" in Disability." They are also from Evergreen Middle School.

Bringing home the gold in the Senior Divison we have Hannah Doyle and Zarchary Matson from Delta High School in Pasco, Washington for their Senior Group Website on, "Mother Jones: Marching with the Mill Children."

We also have another finalist finishing in 10th place in the nation, Jeaziree Salise for her Senior Individual Website on, "Taking a Stand for the Ancient One: Bonnichsen et al. v. the United States." She too is from Delta High School.

Our Outstanding State Award winners are Sneha Bharadwaj from Redmond High School for her Senior Individual Documentary on, "Brown vs Board of Education, Taking a Stand Against Segregation." The Junior Division winner was Ann Cabacungan from Marcus Whitman Junior High for her Junior Individual Documentary on, Jane Addams and Her Contribitions to the Progressive Movement."

Below you can see some pictures from today's awards ceremony and the parade of states.  

Another great year for Washington History Day students at this years National Contest.

Joan and I had a great time and we hope the rest of the delegation did as well.

Thank you to the delegation and safe travels home!

Our last full day in DC...

Hello Washington History Day Fans,

Coming to you live from the 5th floor lounge in Elkton Hall.

Another exciting, (and hot) day here in D.C. with Team Washington exploring the city and museums. Some made stops at the Newseum, while others went to the new African American Museum. Others made stops at both of our Senator's office and a few made stops visiting the House Reps.

It's been a long week of competition and the kids are wore out! As you can see from the pics below, several still have enough energy to enjoy some snacks in the lounge before the big day ahead tomorrow.

We have a few pics of the party along with a few pics of the whale being inflated today.

If you look close, you can also see Seymour hanging out at a few important D.C. landmarks.

You will see Sneha Bharadwaj at the African American Museum and you will also see TeddyBill taking a selfie with Senator Cantwell.

Busy day head, so time to get some rest.

JoAnn and Mark signing off...

Washington History Day - Senior Day at the National Contest

Hello Washington History Day Fans,

Coming to you live from the 2017 National History Day contest...Tuesday edition.

Today was another grueling day with the heat and humidity while trying to manage some serious campus navigation. Joan and I both crisis-crossed the campus today while cheering on our competing Seniors!

This evening we joined a large Washington State contingent as we all gathered in the Stamp Student Union to cheer on the girls from Evergreen Middle School as they competed in the Junior Group Documentary Finals! They did a great job and we hope to see them bringing home some hardware on Thursday.

As for the Seniors today, we did not have any of our Documentaries or Performances move on to the Final round. They all presented well and we are very proud of their hard work and accomplishments this year. Great job Seniors!

Below is a recap of today's activities along with a few teacher submitted pictures of our Juniors enjoying the D.C. area this week.

Tomorrow we have Ali Jones and Gabrielle Hager presenting their Documentary at the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. The Northshore contingent is meeting with Senator Maria Cantwell. Kelsey Ballard from Cedar Heights Middle School is going to be presenting her Exhibit at the National Museum of American History all day for the world to see. And Joan scored a free ticket to the African American Museum, so she will be spending the day in D.C.'s hottest attraction. Yay Joan!

Performing their Senior Group Performance, you can see Giovanni and Mikaila Bardessono as she cuts his hair live during the performance.

Jerry Cao as he paitently waits to share his Senior Group Documentary.

All 6 of our Senior Group Exhibit Students standing in the dorm lounge after successful judge interviews. From left to right, Brigitte Larkin and Madison Neyland from Liberty HIgh School. Sarah Yang, Taylor Caragher, Valerie Chung and Daniel Chen from International Community School.

Ali Jones and Gabrielle Hager as they are being judged during their Senior Group Documentary.

Sneha Bharadwaj as she shares her Senior Individual Documentary with the judges.

Rudy Garcia and Anthony Chung as they answer questions during their Senior Group Documentary.

Also we have Max Feather after his Monday Junior Individual Performance.

Olivia Krey sitting in front of her Junior Individual Exhibit topic, Sojourner Truth.

Steven Lu standing in front of his topic, Toussaint Louverture.

Aarushi Jain getting in some 10 pin in the college bowling alley.

Until tomorrow...

Joan and Mark saying good night from College Park.

2017 National Contest Day 1 of competition!

Hello Washington History Day Fans!

It's day 1 of the 2017 National Contest and we come to you live from College Park, MD.

Today was all about the Juniors! Criss-crossing the campus, the students navigated the high heat and humidity to impress the judges with their incredible projects and months of hard work. When we say crisis-cross, we REALLY mean crisis-cross as this campus is huge! 1,335 acres huge to be exact, and we had students spread out in all corners.

Joan logged 20,278 steps on her Fitbit as she traversed the campus in pursuit of cheering on the Juniors.

In the pics below you can see Sadie Muller as she presents her Junior Individual Documentary on Temple Grandin. You can also see Isaac Vaa and Colin McAfee as they present their Junior Group Documentary on the Tuskegee Airman. (See pics below)

You can see Chelsea Davatos and Rose Kelly relaxing in the dorm lounge after their Junior Group Performance.

The competition was fierce and we learned this evening that we have one of our Junior Group Documentaries headed into finals on Tuesday evening. Ananya Nandula, Ananya Ganapathi and Layasri Ranjith from Evergreen Middle School are moving on with their group dcoumntary on the Tuskegee Airmen. (See pic below)

We ended the night by a visit to the teen dance in the Armory. Words can't describe "The Dance" but maybe the pictures below can help you to better understand "The Dance!" On our way to the dance we came across some Maryland wildlife as you can see in one of the pics.

You can also see Giovanni and Mikaila Bardessono as they rehearse for their Senior Group Performance on Tuesday morning.

Tomorrow is another big day as we begin the day marking off our seats in the Xfinity Center and then quickly head to the venues for cheering and support of the Seniors competing in the preliminary round.

Good luck Seniors!

And for now,

Mark and Joan saying goodnight...

Sunday June 11, 2017

Hello Washington History Day Fans...

Welcome to the 2017 National Contest! 

Sorry we missed you yesterday, but it was a very busy and hectic day for the Washington History Day crew. But we're today to share in all of the fun and excitement. 

We would like to begin today's blog with a funny incident that happened to Joan and I last night in our dorm elevator. As we entered the elevator a mother and daughter entered along with us. The daughter asked Joan where she was from, Joan replied, "Washington State." The daughter then asked, "you're from Washington?" She then went on to say "Washington is so cool!" To which Joan replied, "where are you from?" And the daughter said, "Wisconsin, Wisconsin is just ehh!" At that point the elevator reached the floor where the mother and daughter were exiting and the mother said, "well...." At that point the elevator door closed and we didn't hear the end of their conversation. But we surmised that the daughter felt that Washington State is pretty cool! And so do we!

Onto Sunday...

After breakfast we had our first team meeting on the steps of Elkton Hall. The group was travel weary as most of them arrived late last night. We got through the meeting and Joan handed out swag-bags while Mark headed off to the Exhibit Hall. The Exhibit students followed and set up their projects which you can see on the Washington History Day Facebook page, while the other students headed for site-seeing in D.C.

The day moved along with everyone returning to campus in order to catch the Opening Ceremony and Ken Burns! Mr. Burns rocked the house and several of our kids stuck around to get his autograph and pictures with him. The highlight of the evening was Joan getting a high-five with Ken Burns as he left the stage! Rock star style! 

There was also LOTS of fast and furious button trading by ALL Washington kids. We expect to see even more of that tomorrow and Tuesday. 

Monday is the big day for Juniors and many of them have been rehearsing in the dorm lounge tonight and others have gone to bed early to get lots of rest. We wish all of our Juniors the best of luck tomorrow and we are excited to see the results. 

Below are just a few pictures of the day. You can also see more on the Washington History Day Facebook page. 

Stay tuned for more History Fans...

Mark and Joan!

Hello Washington History Day Fans...

The team is getting ready to head to the BIG National Contest in two more days and you can follow all of the action here as well as the Washington History Day Facebook page!

Stay tuned for more...