National History Day State Champions from Fort Scott Set to Present at the Empress Events Center Southeast Kansas will send two projects to the National History Day Championship in College Park, Maryland June 11–15.
Four groups from the Bourbon County community attended the State National History Day Championships in Topeka in April.
The two groups from Fort Scott who are State Champions competing at Nationals in June will present their projects at 7:00 PM on June 1st at the Empress Events Center. This presentation will allow the students to practice sharing their projects and raise funds for their trip to College Park, MD. This event is open to the
public.
The following students are the State Champions and will be sharing their projects on June 1st:
Kenlee Eden, Blair Felt, and Kodie Wells from Fort Scott Christian Learning Center will participate in the Junior Group Documentary category, coached by Megan Felt and Rachel Wells. Their project is entitled Blazing a Trail for the Forgotten. It is a documentary based on Jean Purdy, the first embryologist in history.
Jean’s efforts in helping biologist Dr. Robert Edwards and gynecologist Dr. Patrick Steptoe led to the first IVF baby being born in 1978.
Taly Banwart, Holly Crain, and Abby Jacobs from Fort Scott Christian Learning Center will participate in the Senior Group Performance category, coached by CLC history teacher Dan Kobernat. Their project is entitled A Love Larger Than Life. It is a performance based on Dr. Leila Denmark and her efforts to eradicate whooping cough by creating the pertussis vaccine. Dr. Denmark’s vaccine was the 11th vaccine ever developed.
History Day encourages students to express their knowledge of and interest in history through creative and
original dramatic performances, media presentations, historical papers, website design, or three–dimensional exhibit projects. The research and study for district, state, and national competitions take place throughout the entire school year.
The national competition involves the top 2,000 students from across the nation, chosen from over 800,000
who compete in order to advance from local to state to national competition. All 50 states and several countries will be represented at the National competition. The theme this year is “Frontiers in History: People, Ideas, and Events.”
The Lowell Milken Center provides critiques and helps with research for National History Day Unsung Hero
projects from Kansas and throughout the United States.