Documenting HIstory

National History Day was on Sunday, March 13, hosted by the LA County Office of Education (LACOE). This event was held at Azusa Pacific University (APU) campus in Azusa, CA, from 8 AM to 4 PM.
There were about two dozen high schools, close to 20 middle schools and many more elementary school participants.
This event originally began in 1974 at Case Western Reserve University. The idea came from a history professor named David Van Tassel, who was very concerned about the decline of the humanities in America’s schools.
Van Tassel was particularly distressed by the rote memorization he saw in most history classrooms. He wanted to reinvigorate approaches teachers and students had with history curricula.
Patrick Gillogly, an AP US History teacher, was the only Poly teacher who attended, along with seven students: seniors Benjamin Neal and Daniel Sagrera and juniors Derek Matos, Eric Fuson, Emma Larson, Danielle Gallandt and Tatum McCann.
Students produced ten-minute documentaries from different time periods and places that centered around this year’s competition theme: Exploration, Contact, and Exchange.
Larson was given an honorable mention for her documentary on the history of coffee titled “Coffee Through the Ages” and Matos and Fuson won first place for their documentary on the United Fruit Company and the Panama Canal titled “American Enterprises: Profitability and Exploitation in Latin America.”
Matos and Fuson advanced to State Finals, which will be held on May 6-7 in Rocklin, CA. If they win at State, the duo will advance to Nationals in Maryland in June.
“The students who participate in this competition work very hard, balancing the demands of their classes with the challenges of producing a project that involves real historical research, teamwork, and skill in video editing, among many other things. I am immensely proud of their efforts. To see the enthusiastic students of all levels engaging with each other and the history is a pleasure to be a part of every year,” said Gillogly.