Huntington students sparkled at the National History Day Long Island regional finals at Hofstra University. Eleven of the teenagers qualified for the state championships in Cooperstown later this spring.
Competing in a field of more than 40 schools, 737 students and 426 spectacular entries, projects submitted by Huntington High School and J. Taylor Finley Middle School students captured a long list of awards.
“This has been another banner year for the Huntington National History Day program, with sophisticated skills and creative ideas generated from veterans of the process and many newcomers,” Chairperson of Humanities Joseph Leavy said.
By any standard, Huntington’s contestants shined, turning in what very well might be the district’s best performance ever in the Long Island regional finals.
Katie Riley captured first place in the LI regional National History Day finals at Hofstra.
“Whether they won or not, their projects were among the very best at this year’s competition, which is a true testament to strength of our growing program here at Huntington,” said Lauren Desiderio, a Huntington High School social studies teacher who coordinates the National History Day program.
“Through relentless determination and endless hard work our students were adamant to make the most of their National History Day experiences at the highly competitive Long Island regionals,” Mrs. Desiderio said. “Our Hofstra competitors worked diligently dedicating many, many additional hours perfecting their projects over the last month. They were proactive in seeking feedback from our local judges, high school studies teacher Kenneth Donovan, as well as myself outside experts to enhance their projects.”
Participation in the Long Island regional finals soared by more than 150 teenagers compared to last year, making the competition more challenging than ever.
“Teachers Lauren Desiderio, Camille Tedeschi, Ken Donovan, Jarrad Richter and now Jessica Resilvato have worked tirelessly to inspire and guide their students,” Mr. Leavy said. “Some students have gone on to Hofstra regionals and others will go to the state level, yet each and every student who has participated in this research process has not only grown in their understanding of history, but have also generated presentations of what they learned for all of us who have had the opportunity to view their work.”
Huntington’s long list of honorees include:
• Individual Documentary: 1st Place
Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASP): Winning Their War by Katie Riley
• Group Documentary: 2nd Place:
Diplomatic Relations on Trial: The First Spy Exchange of the Cold War by Andrew Knowles, Ryan Knowles, Paul Katigbak, Julien Rentsch
• Group Documentary: 3rd Place
Northern Ireland Troubles by Isabella Neira, Margaret Lalor, Moira Contino
• Group Exhibit: 3rd Place
The Flushing Remonstrance and John Bowne: 360 Years of Refusing to Compromise on Religious Freedom by Abigail Holmes, Madelyn Kye, Gabriel Medina-Jaudes
• Individual Exhibit: 3rd Place
Not in My Body: The Legacy of the Anti-Vaccination Movement in 19th Century England by Diya Rai-Gersappe
• Individual Website: 3rd Place
Srebrenica: Identifying Europe's Darkest Hours by Neil Jean-Baptiste
Special Award Winners
Labor History Award: Sponsored by New York State United Teachers
Senior Paper: UAW vs. GM: Conflict that Revived a Nation by Haley Mortell
Science History Award: Sponsored by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Individual Exhibit: Not in My Body: The Legacy of the Anti-Vaccination Movement
in 19th Century England by Diya Rai-Gersappe
Sports History Award: Sponsored by Atlantic Baseball Club
Group Exhibit: Ice Wars: The Fight for Rights on the Rink by Jason Verville and Ryan Williams
Junior Division – J. Taylor Finley Middle School Awards
American History Award sponsored by the Huntington Historical Society
Junior Group Website: The Second Great Awakening: A Historical Conflict between Mainstream Religions and the U.S, Government by Grace Colavecchio, Sofia Marchetta
The state championships are set for Monday, April 23 in Cooperstown. The national finals will be held June 10-14 at the University of Maryland at College Park. Huntington students have found success at every level of competition over the years.
“Overall, the quality of our student projects this year were remarkable, so much so that I’ve been using several of our student websites as complimentary sources for required AP World History content,” Mrs. Desiderio said. “Students just this past week learned about the Munich Conference through Oskar Kilgour and Ryan Hoffmann’s group website and next week students will learn about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through Lily Stein and Shyann Maragh’s exceptional website.”
“I was very fascinated and honored that our website was not just for competition, but now a tool for learning,” Mr. Kilgour said. “Many of my classmates complimented me on its easy navigability and its great interface.”
The judges at Hofstra were clearly impressed by Huntington’s students, including those who didn’t win awards, but nevertheless were articulate and well-informed when interviewed on Sunday morning about their projects.
High hopes for state championships
“We have high hopes heading into the state championships,” Mrs. Desiderio said. “Students have already begun to meet with me for feedback on what they can do to improve in the hopes of to the national competition in June. And for those already looking forward to next year’s competition the 2019 theme will be ‘Triumph and Tragedy in History.’”
The Huntington students qualified for the regional finals through an earlier local competition. Following that preliminary event, participants were able to refine their work, taking into consideration comments from judges.
The teenagers were pumped up following the Long Island regionals. “This was my third year competing at Long Island History Day so I was already familiar with the process,” Ms. Riley said. “After presenting my documentary in the first and second rounds, I was feeling confident that I did well, but you never know what the outcome will be. At the awards presentation, I was ecstatic to place first in my category and honored that the judges recognized my hard work. I’m looking forward to moving on to the state competition in Cooperstown next month and am proud to be representing Huntington High School.”
Huntington shined brighter than ever
The Long Island regional competition is always tough, but Huntington shined brighter than ever before in what some consider to be the most challenging field ever.
“I was really excited when they called my name, saying that I got third place among all the individual exhibits,” Ms. Rai-Gersappe said. “I put in a lot of hard work and time into my project and I was happy that it paid off. It was a huge honor to win especially since the competition was so fierce. I am so grateful for this experience and I think that it truly will help shape my academic career.”
Developing an award winning project takes time and requires many stages of editing and refinement. “After months of compiling research, all participants should be commended for their projects,” Mr. Jean-Baptiste said. “National History Day is a platform to inform the general public about the unique aspect of your work and ultimately your project.”
Those that qualified for the state championships are already looking ahead to the experience. “My group is very thankful to be moving on to the next round where we will be competing against the best projects in the state,” Mr. Rentsch said. “It will be a great experience to see other winning documentaries and learn from them, both artistically and historically.”
Let there be no mistake, the Huntington students who are heading to Cooperstown have their eyes on the top prizes in their respective categories.
“An amazing opportunity”
“This is an amazing opportunity for our group,” Ms. Lalor said. “We have enjoyed this adventure so far and are excited for the future competition.”
The Huntington teenagers spent a very long day at Hofstra for the regional finals, but they enjoyed every minute of it. “It was really nice to see everyone from all different areas of Long Island representing their schools and accomplishments,” Ms. Contino said.
Huntington students spend untold hours developing their projects annually but they are clearly sold on the initiative “National History Day is a truly rewarding experience,” Ms. Kye said. “It was amazing to learn so much about one topic, especially since we had known nothing about it before. We are so excited to be able to represent Huntington at Cooperstown!”
The local National History Day competition is coordinated by Huntington High School’s History Day club. Club officers include Maggie Giles (president), Gaia D’Anna (vice president), Isabella Piccola (recording secretary), Nicole Arenth (corresponding secretary), Alyssa Befumo (treasurer), Isabella McGinniss (historian) and administrative assistants Niamh Condon, Erica Vazquez and Max Robins.
Huntington students spent the time between the local competition and the Long Island regional finals polishing their projects. “Maddy, Gabe and Abby even went so far as completely re-doing their exhibit structure in order to make the modifications necessary and it really paid off,” Mrs. Desiderio said. “Each of our competitors really took our recommendations to heart and left their mark on this year’s regional competition.”
Huntington’s best performance ever
The recent showing at Hofstra is believed to be the best regional performance ever for Huntington with six projects placing in the top three and four special awards.
“It’s a significant accomplishment, which would have been impossible if it were not for the dedication and commitment of our students and the support we receive from the district,” Mrs. Desiderio said. “I’m very appreciative of department chairman Joseph Leavy, who has continued to be so supportive each and every year, first year SEARCH program teacher Jessica Risalvato, who guided our sixth graders throughout their project experience and Finley Middle School social studies teacher Jarrad Richter who has continued to do fantastic work through the Yorker Club. As a Long Island History Day board member we’ve strived to increase participation and it was wonderful to see our junior level competitors presenting their projects this year.”
Future of the program
Between the sixth grade SEARCH students and the interest at Finley Middle School, Huntington’s future participation in the National History Day initiative seems secure.
Finely eighth graders Grace Colavecchio and Sofia Marchetta were impressive while capturing the American History Award sponsored by the Huntington Historical Society at the Long Island regional finals at Hofstra. The eighth graders competed in the junior group website category and their work, titled “The Second Great Awakening: A Historical Conflict between Mainstream Religions and the U.S, Government” won over the judges.
“Grace and Sofia chose a topic that many people probably do not know a lot about and created an eye-catching and informative website,” Finley social studies teacher Jarrad Richter said. “They did a great job.”
