Students prepare for History Day competition

A record number of students are participating in History Day this year.

With the deadline for National History Day entries quickly approaching, students are making final touches to their projects for the History Day Open House, held in the school library on Feb. 16. Qualifying entries will continue on to the county competition in hopes of making it to the state and national competitions.

National History Day is an annual competition in which students are challenged to create an entry that explores a historical topic. Students can compete individually or in a group with a documentary, exhibit, historical paper, website or performance. This year’s theme is “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.”

“I think the theme this year is really interesting,” junior Geena Zhou said. “It’s important to see the cause and effect in historical events.”

History Day has caused many to feel pressed for time as they struggled to balance school work and extracurriculars with their projects.

“It is a really big ‘time suck’ that involves participation through both semesters,” A.P. US History teacher Matt Torrens said.

Despite the time crunch, the event has been a fun and challenging way to explore an area of history that interests the participants while they earn extra credit in their A.P. US History classes.

“Even though the project is time consuming, the generous APUSH grade boost is a very nice perk,” junior participant Shauray Agrawal said.

The History Day Open House will take place at 7 p.m. on Feb. 16. It is open to everyone, and students will have the opportunity to share and explain their projects.

Qualifying entries from the school competition will continue on to the county competition on March 24, hosted at Saratoga High this year. Groups can then advance to the state competition in Riverside. in April, and finally the national competition at the University of Maryland in June.