The 2024 History Day Tournament occurred on Saturday, March 2nd on UCONN’s campus. South Windsor had two teams competing, one high school team and one middle school team. Combined, the teams earned 26 medals throughout the event.
On History Day, students submit projects such as websites, documentaries, exhibits, or papers. They are also able to hold a performance of their choice. These activities can be done in a group or individually. The high school team alone had submissions from 37 different students.
“This year’s theme was called “Turning Points,” or moments in history where things were simply not the same after it occurred,” history teacher and leader of the high school team, Mr. Garrish, told The Prowl.
There were five individual performances that day, one of them performed by freshman, Rayna Reed. This performance consisted of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life and legacy. Reed has been participating in History Day since Middle School.
“My favorite part about History Day is meeting new people and getting to know the community,” Reed commented.
Many students receive the opportunity to participate through Rho Kappa, which is the Social Studies Honor Society.
Junior Bhaavni Krishna presented another individual performance. Her project contained a showing of a local suffragette, Helena Hill Weed. Krishna spent lots of time preparing for her project, she traveled around the state looking at past events from Weed’s life.
“One of the things I love most about History Day is learning more about local history, so I wanted to focus on a suffragette from Connecticut whose story was less known,” Krishna explained.
Senior Finn Jennings and junior Nkailu Nsakala prepared a documentary about Thomas Edison and the creation of a phonograph for their category. The two came up with the idea through their shared love of music.
“I am very very proud of how these students took advantage of this opportunity to get creative and to challenge themselves academically; I hope they found it fulfilling as well,” Garrish told the Prowl.
This year’s showing at Mansfield was impressive and will lead them to their next competition, states, taking place on May 4th.
