History on display

Dozens of middle and high school students presented projects to expert judges in the Virginia District III National History Day held in Heth Hall.
Del. Chris Hurst (left) grabbed a pen and paper to illustrate broadcasting’s rule of thirds to District III National History Day competitor Mia Lazar, who entered a documentary in the annual event.

Leighton McGee began jogging in place. In a hallway. Wearing a suit.

“I’m feeling a lot of things. I just feel like doing this,” he said as he moved his legs up and down, burning off some nervous energy. “And… I feel like … eating.”

McGee, his older brother John Cole McGee and their classmate and partner Nate Salzberg where standing on the first floor in Radford University’s Heth Hall at 9:40 a.m. on a Friday morning. All three were dressed to impress. Salzberg donned a bowtie. “It’s salmon,” he said of its color. “I think.”

The dapper young gentlemen from Blacksburg New School were 10 minutes away from making a presentation and fielding difficult questions about the Panama Canal research project they had spent countless hours preparing as an entry for annual Virginia District 3 National History Day at the university.

“It’s nerve-wracking,” said Salzberg, a competition veteran who was in the same spot a year ago. “The questions the judges ask you are tough.”

Yes, the questions can be tough, but John Cole McGee was confident through his nerves.

“This year, our topic relates to the theme in so many different ways,” he said, reassuring himself and his mates.

Over the past several months, the McGee brothers, Salzberg, and the many other middle and high school students who entered the competition worked long hours delving into topics that fit the National History Day theme "Conflict and Compromise in History."

The event brought 57 school children to the Radford University campus March 23 to present their history projects through their choice of documentaries, exhibits, performances, websites or papers. Participating students represented Blacksburg High School, Blacksburg New School. St. John Neumann Academy and Shawsville Middle School.

Radford University's Department of History began organizing the District 3 competition on campus in 1996. In 2015, Radford’s School of Teacher Education and Leadership (STEL) took responsibility for coordinating the competition. STEL faculty members Kristan Morrison and Ann Roberts organize the event.

Competitors presented projects on a variety of topics, including, to name just a few, the Salem witch trials, the Mexican student movement of 1968, the Three-Fifths Compromise, human trafficking and the Siege of Tenochtitlan.

Each competitor was interviewed by a panel of three judges made up of Radford University faculty, students, community members, historians, student teachers, graduate students and members of the McConnell Library staff.

“They love presenting to the faculty and others from the university who serve as judges,” said Randy Rudasill ’04, a sixth grade history teacher at Shawsville Middle.

Jenna Gadd loves everything about the competition. “It’s a blast,” the Shawsville seventh grader said. She came to show her research on the nuclear freeze movement, a cold war-era effort, led by Randall Forsberg, to halt the drift toward nuclear war.

“One thing that made me have a lot of passion about this project was not only did she [Forsberg] try to make peace, but she was a woman doing this,” Gadd explained.

The seventh grader presented at last year’s competition and was nervous, yet confident in her work. She said she learned “a lot of new things from the feedback the judges give you.”

Brooke Cooper ‘10 was one of those judges this year who interviewed students about their work and examined the projects, jotting down notes on a paper and clipboard.

“We’re looking to see if the projects are historically accurate, if the students use primary and secondary sources as the rubric states,” said Cooper, a Radford University graduate student who competed in National History Day when she was in middle school. “We’re also looking for visual impact and, of course, creativity.”

History Day
Judges (from left) Brooke Cooper ’10, Elizabeth McCormick and Jonathan Coleman examine and discuss a project during the Virginia District III National History Day event.

To prepare the students for the rigors of the rubric, Michelle Graham ’16 helps operate a National History Day club as part her role as a 9th and 10th grade history teacher at Blacksburg New School. She had also served as a judge for the competition when she was a Radford University student. “I felt I could offer them some expertise from the perspective of a judge,” she said.

Among her students was sophomore Mia Lazar, who benefited from some outside expert advice, albeit after she had presented her documentary, “When Compromise is Unacceptable,” about coeducation at the University of Virginia.

Del. Chris Hurst dropped by to check in on the event and watched Lazar’s documentary. The former TV broadcaster sat down with Lazar later to discuss filmmaking and broadcasting.

“Chris Hurst is one my heroes,” Lazar said, still giddy minutes after Hurst had left the room. “It was really cool to have him give such amazing feedback.”

The feeling seemed mutual.                                           

“I’m incredibly impressed. This is far better than anything I would have been able to do when I was in high school,” Del. Hurst said. “I’ve been thoroughly impressed with not only the ability to complete the projects, but also the subjects they’re choosing. They’re really picking some unique subjects, things and stories I have never heard about.”

As for the competition, it was “exactly in line with what Radford’s mission is, especially as it relates to education,” Del. Hurst said. “This is the premier school for education and raising and teaching educators of the future.”

After the presentations wrapped up, anxious pacing and nail biting shifted to the awards ceremony at Heth Hall. Awards were given for first and second place and honorable mention in each category for junior division (grades 6-8) and senior division (grades 9-12).

Individuals who received first- and second-place honors are invited to participate in the state competition on April 21 at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond. Among the winners was Lazar, who took first place for senior individual documentary.

In the junior exhibit group, Salzberg and the McGee brothers won first prize.

Win or not, the learning and the competition experience were worth the effort, the trio explained.

“It’s pretty chaotic trying to get it all together in time,” John Cole McGee said. “But it’s exciting.”

And when it’s all over?

“I’ll feel relieved,” Leighton McGee said. “And ready to eat.”

Apr 3, 2018
Chad Osborne
540-831-7761
caosborne@radford.edu