NHD competition teaches students to hone their research skills

National History Day (NHD) competition is back again, and this year students are creating projects based on the theme, “Breaking Barriers in History.”

Pleasant View School students compete each year by conducting a year-long research project on a topic of their choice that fits the chosen theme for the year. They conduct research on topics that have any aspect of local, regional, national or world history.

“Students develop and hone their research skills, presentation skills and learn how to truly analyze and interact with a variety of primary and secondary sources,” said social studies teacher Nisreen Malley.

PVS requires middle schoolers to participate while high schoolers have the option to participate in either the science fair or NHD - some compete in both.

Armed with skills from class, students work on their projects at home. Projects come in one of several formats: paper, exhibit, performance, documentary or website.

Students must have an annotated bibliography that separates primary and secondary sources. They use a variety of sources including archival research and conducting interviews.

The competition began on Friday, Jan. 24 with students presenting their projects to judges. And on Saturday, Feb. 22, students will compete in their categories against students from West Tennessee.

Students either bring in or send in their projects depending on the format, and present projects to judges in an interview and discussion. They are judged on historical quality, relation to theme and clarity of presentation.

“Through participation in NHD, students benefit in numerous ways beyond learning about their topics’ issues, ideas, people and events,” Malley said.