JOHNSTOWN - A handful of students at Greater Johnstown High School are preparing to attend the 2018 National History Day regionals competition following days of hard work.
“It’s a national competition that over a half-a-million students across the country and the U.S. territories participate in,” says teacher Christian Wrabley.
Wrabley says he encouraged all of his students to get creative for this year’s competition, especially the 8th graders who were just given the opportunity to participate.
“Our senior division has done it, but we just went through a district redesign where we brought 8th graders to the high school, so it’s a great opportunity for us to join the competition,” Wrabley says.
It’s an opportunity 8th grader, Eli Gunby, couldn’t pass up.
“Well, my project is basically jungle themed,” Gunby says.
It’s a project that took him two weeks to complete, but he didn’t do it alone.
“My mom helped me cut up paragraphs and stuff like that, make it look nicer, and my dad helped me make the base,” Gunby says.
For Johnstown senior Gina Smith, her project’s theme hit close to home.
“The day that Flight 93 happened, my father was still a Johnstown police officer and he got called out to the scene to help patrol the area so I figured it would be the best topic for me to do,” Smith says.
Wrabley says the competition helps students learn beyond the history.
“These kids are the movers and shakers of our community and we're asking them to choose their topic, select how they research, work with other people, collaborate, problem solve and create a final product that they can be proud of and that means something to them,” Wrabley says.
Regionals will take place at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Friday, April 6. The top two students in each category will then get the opportunity to showcase their projects at the National Contest in June at the University of Maryland.
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