MEEKER | Sixteen Barone Middle School eighth graders and two Meeker High School students went to National History Day regional competition in Grand Junction this month.
Barone Middle School teacher Kris Casey is this year’s Colorado State National History Day Junior Division Teacher of the Year. Twelve of her students will represent Meeker at state-level competition for National History Day this year. | COURTESY PHOTOS
National History Day is a non profit organization that Meeker partakes in yearly. The goal of the organization is to revolutionize the teaching and learning of history as we know it. Every year, they hold a themed competition in which any student can choose to participate. This year’s theme was “Frontiers in History.”
Many middle and high school students dedicated time to creating projects for the competition. The students who went to regionals had already passed through a local competition which was judged by community volunteers. The students who participated in regionals are listed below. Of those 18 students, 12 will represent Meeker at the state-level competition in Denver on April 29.Leading the students is Barone Middle School teacher and long-time pillar of the community, Kris Casey. She is also this year’s Colorado State National History Day Junior Division Teacher of the Year and is now in the running for the national title, which is a source of pride for her students past and present. The time and dedication she puts into her students and job as a whole is evident in the number of students who qualify for state every year.
History Day Regional Competition Projects/Teams
State Qualifiers Group Documentary, 2nd place — The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Brad Nielsen and Said Rodriguez
Group Exhibit, 3rd place — Ancient Rome*
Kai Watson, Marlen Olivas
Individual Website, 3rd place — Westminster vs. Mendez*
Aurora Stallings
Individual Exhibit — Schizophrenia
Olivia Griffiths
Individual Exhibit, 1st place — Shark Island: Namibia, Africa*
Sawyer May
Group Exhibit — Military
Skylar Grimes, Serenity Murray
Group Exhibit, High School 2nd place — James Edward Hanger: Empowering Human Potential*
Aiyana McCook, Gracie Blagg
Group Exhibit — Geneva Convention
Taylor Hurtt, George Rippy
Individual Exhibit, finalist — Homesteading
Hailey Cox
Group Exhibit, 2nd place — Radium Girls: The Frontier of OSHA*
Brooklynn Nielsen, Kelton Pyburn
Group Exhibit, 1st place — Voyager 1&2: The Frontier of Space Exploration*
Dawn Arnold, Julia Rafello
BY BROOKLYNN NIELSEN – Special to the Herald Times