Oklahoma Christian University will host the Oklahoma City area History Day competition, a national history education event for sixth through twelfth-grade students on April 9.
Members of the Oklahoma Christian chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, a national honor society for history students, will take time out of their day to work behind the scenes at the event.
“It’s pretty fun,” Senior Megan Reed said. “It’s frustrating to have right in the middle of your school day, but it’s definitely worth it.”
According to John Maple, chair of the Department of History and Political Science, there are multiple categories, both individual and team, but students may only compete in one category.
“Individuals can write papers, in groups of two to five…students create table-top, museum-type exhibits, performances which they write the script and costume for, documentaries…and websites,” Maple said.
Reed worked at History Day last year, and said she enjoys seeing students display their passion and creativity in a rewarding setting.
“It’s neat to see all the projects that the kids do – they’re so creative, and they have so many good ideas,” Reed said. “I think it’s huge for the students, and I think it gives the kids a sense of validity that they worked on something long enough and hard enough to make a complete and finished project and then get to bring it and show it to somebody.”
Maple said History Day has been an important event for the history department at Oklahoma Christian for the past 27 years.
“We’ve been hosting the district contest since 1988,” Maple said. “It’s a long standing activity of the department and the Phi Alpha Theta chapter, and I think it’s a way in which we as OC faculty and staff and students concretely serve the metropolitan community.”
Maple said he tries to serve local schools by making History Day an affordable event.
“It is something that we do, at our own expense,” Maple said. “The schools are able to participate really without cost beyond bus transportation from their school here and back.”
Senior Collin Schnakenberg said he and other Phi Alpha Theta members appreciate seeing the students’ passion about their studies.
“It’s always fun to see enthusiasm of history in high school and junior high [students],” Schnakenberg said. “It’s very encouraging.”
According to Reed, the submission topics range from historical facts to government and geography, giving the competition a social studies flavor. She said her favorite category is the poster-board exhibit.
“It involves a high level of research,” Reed said. “It requires a lot of creativity and a lot of hours in devotion to the project – they really want it to look nice, and there is a certain level of pride that comes with that.”
Phi Alpha Theta members contribute their time behind the scenes, but some members step into larger roles when needed to ensure the success of the competition. Schnakenberg was asked to fill in as a last minute judge in 2014. He said he is ready to contribute to History Day in anyway necessary this year.
“Whatever Dr. Maple needs me to do, I’ll be doing it,” Schnakenberg said. “If he needs me to do a judge…I’ll be more than willing to take that role.”
When the students finally present their projects, Schnakenberg said, they seem to enjoy the results of their hard work.
“I think the actual presentation is fun for them,” Schnakenberg said. “That is where they get to show how much they learned, to show how much they know about their subject.”
Schnakenberg said the effort students put into their submissions impresses him.
“The level of commitment that they have towards their projects, many of them put in quite a bit of work,” Schnakenberg said. “The level of creativity that they express and the level of dedication that they have is kind of surprising to me.”
According to Reed, the event has a special meaning for history majors, because many plan to enter into educational careers.
“I think that a lot of us in the department are intending to go into education anyways, so it’s neat to kind of consider what working with these kids will look like,” Reed said. “In the first couple of years after graduating, these will be the kids that we’re teaching, so I think for me it helps instill an appreciation for the kids working on the history projects.”
0
0
Be First to Comment