Huntington has been a Long Island and state power in the National History Day initiative, which has grown exponentially in the district. The program has spread from the high school level to now include students at J. Taylor Finley Middle School in the Yorker Club and sixth graders in the district’s SEARCH program.
Huntington High School’s National History Day club is up and running for 2020/21. “This year we have a great group of students who are leading the charge, said teacher Lauren Desiderio, who serves as the club’s advisor and who coordinates the initiative in the district. “They are able and willing to help students on all levels with their research projects.”
This year’s National History Day club has an enthusiastic executive board, which includes Ally Kustera (co-president), Christopher Maichin (co-president), Emily Geller (vice president), Teddi Carnesi (treasurer), Cassidy Casabona (corresponding secretary), Emily Roberts (public relations), Hannah Roberts (historian) and administrative assistants Mary Grace Rorke, Emily Plachta and Allison Quinn.
The 2021 national theme is “Communication in History: The Key to Understanding.” In normal circumstances students would conduct months of research to develop their projects, which would then be submitted in one of five formats: historical research papers, museum exhibits, video or computer generated documentaries, theatrical performances, and websites. Besides individual entries, all categories except papers can be completed by a group of up to five students.
But the world is in anything but normal circumstances and the health pandemic continues to rage. The exact format of this year’s local, regional, state and national contests is still to be determined.
“This year the club will be doing weekly virtual meetings open to anyone who seeks assistance on their project this year,” Ms. Kustera said. “Each week we try to focus on a specific aspect of the project, from finding sources to organizing materials, we can help with just about anything! We’ve also been visiting the middle school students during their meetings to offer guidance for their projects.”
The club meets on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. Interested in getting involved and developing a project?
- Visit https://www.remind.com/join/nhd202020 to join the National History Day’s Remind.
- Join the club’s Google Classroom by entering code qyfdqcz.
- The club’s Instagram page is @nhdclub.
Huntington High School’s National History Day club is open to all students who are participating in the initiative. “We also hope to increase our participation in other research competitions such as the New York State Archives student research program,” Mrs. Desiderio said. “We’ve had a handful of students participate in this program in years past and we hope increase our participation this year.”
Contact Mrs. Desiderio (ldesiderio@hufsd.edu) for more information about the district’s National History Day program or to sponsor an award.