Several Local, Area Winners Receive Awards at Michigan History Day
Bay County Public School Academy Students Take Home Several Prizes
April 27, 2009
By: Dave Rogers
The March/April issue of Michigan History Magazine features a cover and eight pages on Bay City's history and exciting future prospects.
Several Great Lakes Bay area students received honors at the Michigan History Day State Finals on Saturday, April 25th in Allendale at Kirkhof Center at Grand Valley State University.
Students from the following communities received awards: Ada, Ann Arbor, Bay City, Bloomfield Hills, Comstock Park, Detroit, Eaton Rapids, Farmington, Gladwin/Beaverton, Grand Haven, Grand Rapids, Grant, Hancock, Hastings, Holland, Howell, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Muskegon, Painsdale, Plymouth, Sault Ste. Marie, South Haven, Traverse City, West Branch, and Whitehall.
This year an estimated 5,500 students competed in the History Day program statewide in Michigan, said Shannon D. White, Education and Awards Coordinator for the Historical Society of Michigan.
After competing in ten regional districts statewide in March, over 300 of these students reached the state finals representing schools from all across the state.
Winners from the local area included Victor Kuhl, Bay County Public School Academy, best entry in transportation history for "Charles Lindbergh." Victor also won second place individual performance in the youth division.
Second place in group performance was taken by Christinia Buzzare and Alyssa Barnes of Bay County PSA for "Babe Ruth."
Named national finalists for group performance with "Benedict Arnold: Traitor or Coward?" were Danielle David, Esther Clement and Cobi Pellerito, home-schooled students from Beaverton/Gladwin.
National finalists in group exhibits were Kennedy Beechum, Justine Grezeseak and Gabrielle Mier of St. Joseph Catholic School, West Branch, for "Florence Nightingale: The Lady With the Lamp."
"Rachel Carson: Mother of the Environmental Movement," was the topic that won national finalist award for Ciara Cannoy of St. Joseph School, West Branch.
Finalists chosen at the state finals in the Junior and Senior categories now head to College Park, Maryland in June to compete in National History Day with their peers from the other forty-nine states and several U.S. territories.
Michigan History Day is an educational program of the Historical Society of Michigan and hosted this year by Grand Valley State University.
Lead sponsors of History Day include Meijer Inc., the Cook Charitable Foundation, the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, the Detroit Salt Company, and Amway.
In addition financial support was provided by the Holland Area Historical Society, the Algonquin Club of Detroit & Windsor, the Michigan Chapter of the Society for the War of 1812, the Daughters of the American Revolution Louisa St. Clair Chapter, and the Michigan Oral History Association.
Special award prizes were also given to students and sponsored by the Friends of Michigan History, the Michigan Women's Studies Association, the Michigan Roundtable of the Lexington Group in Transportation, the Michigan Archival Association, the Michigan Oral History Association, the Michigan Genealogical Council, the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History, the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, and Historical Press of Bay City.
"This was my first year as the State Coordinator for Michigan History Day and I was so excited about the outstanding quality of the entries," commented Ms. White. "Students put in tremendous effort researching their topics and it shows throughout the day as they are interviewed by our volunteer judges."
All entries in the competition were tied in some way to the National History Day theme for 2009, the Individual in History.
A full list of winners can be found at the Michigan History Day website (http://www.hsmichigan.org/mhd.php) or by calling the Historical Society of Michigan at (800) 692-1828, e-mail at hsm@hsmichigan.org.
Michigan History Day is an educational program of the Historical Society of Michigan, the state's oldest cultural organization, founded in 1828. For more information contact the Society at 1305 Abbott Rd., East Lansing, MI 48823 (517) 324-1828 or visit www.hsmichigan.org.###