From SELCO Assistant Director Michael Scott and his thoughts on this year’s Minnesota History Day activities.
I had the privilege of being a judge at this year’s State History Day, held on May 3, 2014, at the University of Minnesota. I was judge for websites, specifically junior (Grade 6-8) group websites.
Websites are relatively new to History Day and this year’s judging for websites included a new element where students were interviewed at the regional history day competitions and at the state competition. Feedback was offered via forms and the interview was focused on getting at some of the background as to why they chose a topic, where their interest in the topic came from, or why they chose to do a website. I really enjoyed the interviews and hopefully put students at ease because so many were really nervous.
A few facts from the 2014 State History Day (thanks to the Minnesota Historical Society for this information):
- 854 projects from 1301 students
- 135 schools represented
- 254 judges for the first and final rounds of competition for a combined 1270 hours!
This project is made possible through a partnership between CRPLSA and the Minnesota Historical Society to promote History Day in Minnesota libraries with money from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the people of Minnesota for Library Legacy activities.