THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606180131
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 91 lines
The school year ended last week for most students in Norfolk Public Schools.
But for a group from Blair Middle School and Granby and Maury high schools, classes were over the week before.
On June 9, they journeyed to the University of Maryland in College Park to participate in the annual National History Day Competition.
The team from Blair, consisting of eighth-graders Sara Posey, 13, and Melinda Danley, 14, earned a superior rating overall in the group performance category.
Alex Hunsucker, 15, a sophomore at Granby, received an award for Arab-American History, sponsored by Arab World and Islamic Resources and School Services, for his presentation in the individual media category.
Hunsucker produced a video on boxing great Muhammad Ali.
``It was kind of neat,'' Hunsucker said. ``There were lots of people there, and I didn't expect to win. The guy who gave me my award knows Muhammad Ali and will send him the video, so he'll get to see it.''
``Taking a stand'' was the theme for this year's competition.
``We did a 10-minute skit about Mary Sloop of Crossmore, N.C.,'' Posey explained. ``She and her husband were both doctors. She wanted to improve life there. She got a hospital and a school built. The school is still running. Her dream was to be a missionary.''
Posey's paternal grandmother had attended the school. Posey and Danley went to Crossmore, about a six-hour trip, to research the project.
``We were looking for a topic,'' Danley said, ``and Sara found out about Mary Sloop. She gave me her autobiography, `Miracle in the Hills.' The people in Crossmore didn't want her there. She pushed education.''
The competition was open to all students at Blair, according to Paula Williams, eighth-grade civics teacher and faculty sponsor and coach for the contest.
``It is a required independent research project for DGA (Designated Gifted Alternative) students,'' Williams said. ``I encourage all students to give it a try.''
The team from Blair had placed first in the regional competition April 20 at Hampton University. That earned the team the right to go to the state competition, held May 8, at the University of Virginia, where the team took second place. First- and second-place teams, from all 50 states, compete at the national level.
Maury had nine students, all ninth-graders, competing at the nationals. DeAnne Bradley, 14, entered the individual video category with a video on women in journalism.
Elizabeth Bryan, 14, Paige Merritt, 15, Holly Mansfield, 15, Mary Carman, 14, and Krystel Azoury, 14, entered a video they had produced about the violence at Kent State University, in 1970, in the group video category. The students had visited Kent State to prepare for the project.
Melanie Kissell, Sarah Grady, and Martha Armstrong, all 15, entered a tripod display board in the group project category. The board dealt with government censorship at the local, state and national levels.
Each of the projects had taken first place in its category in the state competition.
``They work on research under their teacher's guidance,'' Maury social studies department chairman Maria O'Hearn said. ``They work on weekends, in places like the library. The end product is the result of that research, supporting the theme. All students in honors history classes compete.''
The Maury students' teachers were Betsy Jamison and Julie Buhl.
Booker T. Washington High School also had been represented at the state competition, O'Hearn said.
``When kids go to these competitions, they have to defend their research in front of university professors,'' O'Hearn said. ``It's a good experience in growth.''
The students, too, said the program was a good learning experience.
``I've gained the support of the two reporters I interviewed, Barbara Ciara and Regina Mobley of WVEC-TV Channel 13,'' Bradley said. ``They encouraged me a lot.''
``We learned a lot,'' Kissell said, ``especially about book censorship. We were certainly surprised that some of the books we had read, like `Catcher in the Rye' and `Huckleberry Finn,' had been censored elsewhere.''
National History Day is sponsored by the University of Maryland at College Park. The 1997 national contest will be held June 15-19. The theme will be ``Triumph & Tragedy in History.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
Contest coach Paula Williams, center, with Sara Posey, left, and
Melinda Danley.
Photo by DAWSON MILLS
Nine ninth-graders from Maury took part in the National History Day
competition at the University of Maryland. They are, front row, from
left: Sarah Grady, Melanie Kissell, Martha Armstrong, DeAnne
Bradley. Back row, from left: Paige Merritt, Krystel Azoury,
Elizabeth Bryan, Holly Mansfield and Mary Carman.
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK SCHOOLS by CNB