Sixth through eighth graders took a deep dive into various “Turning Points in History” for this year’s National History Day programming.
National History Day (NHD) is an initiative that engages nearly half a million students across the country and is a cornerstone of Peck’s history programming. NHD’s core program is a competition that prompts students in grades 6-12 to conduct extensive research on their chosen topic and present their findings in a series of contest levels judged by educators and professional historians. All projects were thoroughly researched, written, designed, and constructed to prove a student-composed thesis statement.
Projects ranged from The Discovery of Penicillin to Kathrine Switzer: A Turning Point in Marathon Running and everything in between. After choosing a pivotal moment in history to deeply research earlier this year, students demonstrated their knowledge through expo-style displays, talking points, and discussions with peers and parents. Sixth graders designed and built physical exhibits, seventh graders completed websites, and eighth graders completed a project in the category of their choosing (exhibit, website, documentary, research paper, performance, etc.)
The first round of judging happens at Peck, with a cohort of teachers reviewing work according to NHD criteria. This year, 22 projects (composed of 30 students) are eligible to move onto the regional competition held at Monmouth University on Saturday, March 2 where they will be judged by an independent panel of historians and educators. The projects selected to advance to the regional round are:
Sixth Grade
- Hand Hygiene: A Turning Point in Medical History - Ritt Sadrian, Aarav Shah, & Logan Steffa
- Intracranial Tumor Resection: a Turning Point in Brain Surgery - Arjun Wadhera
- The Mariana Trench: A Turning Point in Underwater Exploration - Declan Weng
- The Publishing of Silent Spring: A Turning Point in Environmental History - Lydia Pester
- The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 - Eric Jia & Thijs McCormick
Seventh Grade
- Chinese Internet: A Turning Point in Technological History - Bennett Schwartz
- The Discovery of Oil in Saudi Arabia: a Turning Point in Middle Eastern History - Lucas Librizzi
- Genghis Khan: A Turning Point in Asian History - Luke Kirchner
- Genghis Khan and the Mongolian Empire: A turning point in the lives of the Mongol people - Jonah Braun
- Inchon Assault: The biggest turning point in the Korean War - Patrick Kim & Harley Zhang
- The One Child Policy: A Turning Point in Chinese History - Zanna Albertyn & Bobbi Bruno
- Ping Pong Diplomacy: A Turning Point for Relations with America and China - Duke Honeker & Carter McMahon
- “Tear Down this Wall”: A Turning Point in Berlin History - Giana DiPisa, Logan Lan, & Melanie Muñoz
Eighth Grade
- The Harlem Renaissance: A Cultural and Intellectual Revival - Austin Chen
- The Hollywood Ten: How Fear of Communism Affected Hollywood - Grayson Materne
- The Invention of Instrument Flying: A Turning Point in Innovation - Heidi Lüer
- Jeanette Rankin: A Voice for Change - Victoria Silva
- The Landmark Case: Brown v Board of Education - Sailee Shah
- The Louisiana Purchase: The United States Economic Turning Point - Stone Steenberg
- Prohibition: A Ban on Booze - Lucy Mallgrave
- The Seneca Falls Convention: The Start of the Feminist Movement - Jane Pagano
- The Spanish-American War - Tomás Kennedy