Tallulah Pitti and Ainsley Proctor teamed up to study US First Ladies and the Huntington High School sophomore duo produced an award winning website for this year’s National History Day initiative.
Ms. Pitti and Ms. Proctor garnered the White House History Award for their exceptional website that delved into US First Ladies and the role they have played in the country since Martha Washington.
“Over the summer, Ainsley and I considered several different ideas that related to this year’s National History Day topic of Breaking Barriers in History,” Ms. Pitti said. “We eventually narrowed the topic down to the changing roles of the First Ladies throughout history. We started our research on various First Ladies and the roles they had during their time in the White House. I found it fascinating to see how their roles had evolved from Martha Washington’s hatred of being First Lady to the very enthusiastic Michelle Obama.”
The teenagers worked very hard on their project and contest judges found the website they developed to be impressive. Visit https://site.nhd.org/02386898/home to view the website.
“The internet was our number one choice for conducting our research because we were able to use websites with archives of the First Ladies,” Ms. Pitti said. “I feel our website showcased all the information that we gathered for the project and I was proud of the final results.”
The sophomores worked very well together. They both spent many hours on the project over a period of about six months.
“Tallulah and I considered various topics that fit the theme,” Ms. Proctor said. “The evolution of First Ladies really fascinated us because despite having such a patriarchal society surrounding them, these women found the power to stand up for their causes. They used their
platform to bring much needed attention to various issues that were getting swept under the rug. Betty Ford shined a light to drug abuse and Michelle Obama facilitated healthier eating for America’s youth. With so much information on the White House website, as well as their very own websites, the ease of using the internet made it accessible to all different kinds of sources.”
Ms. Pitti plays on the Blue Devil varsity tennis and lacrosse teams and is a member of both the English and Spanish Honor Societies. She is also a member of Huntington’s Interact Club chapter and is involved in the high school’s mock trial program. The teenager has played travel club lacrosse for the past five summers.
“I enjoy helping out in my community where and when I can, participating in various food drives, walks to raise money as well as teaching kids from the Tri- CYA tennis and I annually adopt a family for Christmas Magic,” Ms. Pitti said.
A member of Huntington’s Spanish and English Honor Society chapters, Ms. Proctor is also in the Key Club and is a Natural Helper, assisting classmates as they work through difficult personal situations. She also plays lacrosse and swims for the Blue Devils. Outside of school the teenager volunteers with the JUNIOR Junior Welfare League of Huntington and plays club lacrosse with Team Elevate. She was certified as a lifeguard last summer.
“Tallulah and I are very happy with the way our project turned out and we’re so excited for 2021’s theme,” Ms. Proctor said.
