OKLAHOMA CITY—More than 60 students from Oklahoma competed at the National History Day contest in Maryland June 9-13. The theme for 2024 – the 50th anniversary of the competition -- was “Turning Points in History,” with more than half a million students competing worldwide in regional and state competitions.
The first-place winner overall was Hannah Hoffman of Canton High School for her senior level individual exhibit on the beginnings of the Children’s Television Workshop.
Students can choose from multiple formats for their project, such as exhibits, writing papers, writing documentaries, creating websites or performance projects.
The exhibit and performance categories draw the most entries.
Hannah said she chose the Children’s Television Workshop because she grew up watching Sesame Street and other favorites and continues to watch them today.
“I jumped at the chance,” she said. “It was like reliving a small part of my childhood. It made it not quite like work for me.”
The project chronicles the development of the concept that television could be used to educate children. Because more parents were working more hours – the stay home mom was beginning to disappear – the education gap between lower and middle economic classes was becoming more noticeable.
The developers of CTW, Hannah said, had to fight for the opportunity to change programming for children from a ‘vast wasteland’ into what it is today.
That all started with letters and numbers, but also included manners and hygiene. And the program was always in color.
The success was incredible. The developers expected the education gap to close most in inner cities but were astonished at the improvement among rural children. Today CTW is in 150 countries around the world.
Hannah Hoffman was joined in the winner’s category by Irilynn Jones and Keller Jones of Canton Elementary School for their junior group performance titled “The Night Santa Claus Died: The Babbs Switch Fire;” The pair placed seventh nationwide and won a special award for “Untold Stories in History.” Projects that explore untold or underrepresented historical events are given added weight. The Babbs fire was the impetus for fire safety regulations in schools nationwide today.
Canton students continued their domination in the History Day contest with honorable mentions for Brooke Pope and Brooklyn Green of Canton High School for their senior group exhibit on “The Match Girls Strike: The Spark That Ignited New Unionism” and Emberly Thompson and Mackenzie Day of Canton Elementary School for their junior group exhibit titled “AMBER Alerts: From Tragedy to Turning Point; Helping America’s Missing” Emma Hoffman of Canton High School also won honorable mention for her senior individual exhibit titled “He Aimed for the Heart but Hit the Stomach: How Upton Sinclair’s ‘The Jungle’ Changed History.”
Hannah and Emma are sisters and at first, since this was Emma’s senior year, Hannah was going to choose a different division in which to compete. However, Emma, who has been competing since the sixth grade, convinced her otherwise and the two competed neck-in-neck for top honors.
The 63 students from Oklahoma who competed at the national competition qualified after winning first or second place in the state competition held at the Oklahoma History Center in May. Students qualified for the state competition after winning at one of seven regional competitions across Oklahoma.
Teacher Peggy Heath has been part of the history day competitions for her entire career, some 40 years. She implemented the competition as a young teacher at the junior high level. The projects allowed her to cross over and teach math, time management, cooperation and analytical skills as well as reading in her history curriculum. She has taken more than 400 students to College Park, Maryland, where the event is held.
“I like that it teaches kids that history happened right here,” she said. “That you don’t have to go somewhere else.”
Another decision she made a long time ago was that money was not going to be a stumbling block for Canton students. The program holds multiple fundraisers throughout the year to fund building, production and travel expenses. One is the fireworks stand going on this week at Canton.
“You have to be good to get to the finals,” Heath said. “But you also have to be lucky to get into a group with only a few entries that are at your level. We know we have done good work, good research, but the element of luck is definitely in there.” The Canton program has been a powerhouse in the competition for years, with multiple wins, often back-to-back.
“It is a lot of work,” Hannah Hoffman said. “We get so tired, especially in the spring when we have stock show and FFA. But it is fun to watch when two (display) boards go up against on another and we play practical jokes on each other.”
National History Day is a highly regarded academic program that is student-driven and fosters critical thinking. The cross-curricular program meets Oklahoma standards for social studies and other subjects. This is the 50th year of National History Day.
The Oklahoma History Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, National Archives and is an accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums and contributed to this report.