Augusta Ceremony to Recognize Statewide National History Day Contest Winners
A public recognition ceremony to honor statewide winners of the 2015 National History Day competition will be held April 7 in Augusta.
The 3:30–4:30 p.m. event is hosted by the Maine State Archives, Museum and Library and will be held in the Cultural Building atrium. The free event and reception are open to the public. All National History Day students, teachers and parents are invited to tour the Maine State Museum free of charge before or after the reception.
National History Day (NHD) is an academic program that began in 1980 to promote critical thinking, research and presentation skills through project-based learning for students of all abilities. More than a half million students, working with thousand of teachers, participate in the national contest annually.
For the second year in a row, a partnership between the University of Maine and the Margaret Chase Smith Library, with support from the Maine Humanities Council and the Maine Historical Society, brought the event to the UMaine campus in Orono.
More than 300 students and teachers from 36 middle and high schools took part in the contest this year. Student exhibits, papers, websites, documentaries and performances were all judged, with the top state winners becoming eligible to compete in the national contest. A list of the 2015 statewide winners is online.
Scheduled guest speakers at the ceremony include Jeff Hecker, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at UMaine; Bernard Fishman, director of the Maine State Museum; Earle G. Shettleworth Jr., Maine state historian and state historic preservation officer; and Tom Desjardin, acting commissioner of the Maine Department of Education.
Noah Binette of Berwick, Maine also will speak at the event. The Noble High School sophomore won first place in the individual exhibit category at the 2014 NHD competition at the University of Maryland in College Park. Binette was one of 47 students representing Maine at the national contest. His winning exhibit on Malaga Island will be on display at the Maine State Museum.
For more information or to request a disability accommodation, contact the museum’s chief educator, Joanna Torow at joanna.torow@maine.gov or 287.6608.
The recognition ceremony is one of several UMaine Humanities Center events planned for 2015. Following the ceremony, members of the public are invited to attend the third annual Maine Humanities Summit at 5 p.m. at the Senator Inn in Augusta. The summit will celebrate the upcoming issue of Maine Policy Review that features expert analysis of the dynamic intersection of the humanities and public policy in Maine. Guests are invited to join the conversation and enjoy hors d’oeuvres and dinner with many of the report’s 40 authors. More information about the summit is online.
Contact: Elyse Kahl, 207.581.3747