A pair of Lake City High School students brought home first place in the South Carolina affiliate National History Day competition and will represent the state in the Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest held in College Park, Maryland, June 12-16.
Hannah McClam and Damian Lee earned first place honors in the Group Exhibit category for their project on the American Revolution. There were over 350 students with 200 projects in various categories from across the state, which is divided into five regions. The top three from each region advanced to the state level and the top two from the state move onto the National level.
Their exhibit is about the Birth of a New Nation during the American Revolution. They focused on this year’s NHD theme of “Exploration, Exchange, and Encounter in History.” They concentrated on all three parts of the theme by showing quotes, pictures and handmade articles that existed back in the 1770s-1780s. This included battles, acts committed by Great Britain, and forming alliances with France.
“The judges were impressed by their overall exhibit board and their interpretation of history during the time period,” said LCH teacher Jeremy Gerken.
National History Day contests are held in the spring in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, and at international schools in Central America, China, Korea and South Asia. Students create historical projects in one of five categories: documentary, exhibit, paper, performance or website. Using primary and secondary sources, participants focus their projects around an annual theme.