Four local students headed to National History Day tournament after winning state competition
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IDAHO FALLS – Four local students earned top prizes at the National History Day of Idaho competition in Caldwell earlier this month, and they’re headed to a national tournament in June.
All four students attend Praxium Mastery Academy, an honors track magnet school for seventh- and eighth-graders through Bonneville School District 93.
The theme for this year’s tournament was “Turning Points in History,” and students had the option of writing a research paper on their topic, creating a documentary, making an exhibit, building a website or creating a script and set for a live performance.
Twelve-year-old Clara McBride of Idaho Falls took second place at the state tournament for her project about Galloping Gertie, a suspension bridge in Washington between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula that collapsed into Puget Sound on Nov. 7, 1940.
She created a website about the bridge and how it led to revolutionary changes in suspension bridge design.
Clara completed the project over several months and used 70 sources during her research.
She tells EastIdahoNews.com what drew her to this project.
“I used to live in Washington. We moved about a year ago. I would frequently go over (several other bridges), so I had a sentimental place in my heart (for Galloping Gertie). It was also a really good turning point in history. I thought it fit all the boxes (for a good project),” Clara says.
She’s grateful to her friends for supporting her and her teacher, Jami McLing, for helping her get to this point.
“We can help coach and mentor but we can’t really do a lot of helping to build things or design things. It has to be on them,” McLing says.
Clara says placing second at the state tournament felt “surreal” because she never thought she had a chance. As she prepares for the national tournament, she’s feeling a “little nervous” but is focused on “trying her best,” regardless of the outcome.
The first-place winner was a group performance by Archimedes Corpus, Miriam Grover, and Connor Seaver called “The Phenomenon of the Pianoforte: A Turning Point in Performance.” It’s about piano inventor Bartolomeo Cristofori and how his instrument “changed the way people wrote and listened to music.”
McLing is proud of her class for their effort and hard work and she’s looking forward to seeing these four students compete at nationals.
The national tournament is happening June 9 to 13 at the University of Maryland. Participants are competing for a cash prize between $500 and $1,000. Individual groups will also award scholarships and cash prizes.