With the inclement weather and the closure of the Springfield School District, this year’s History Day was moved to Saturday, February 16th. The wintery weather conditions however did not curb the enthusiasm and excitement of the students who were ready to showcase their projects to the judges. More than 90% of students and teachers were able to attend the Saturday competition, with only a handful of students unable to adjust their schedules for the make-up date.
For those students who did not make it to their NHD interview, we recommend sharing your NHDMO project to be featured on the NHDMO website, on NHDMO and MSU History Department channels, or to be featured in the State Historical Society of Missouri’s quarterly Missouri Times newsletter. Other ways to highlight your project include on the NHDMO Pinterest Board or submitting links and photos to nhdmo@shsmo.org. Students are also encouraged to sign up to be an NHD expert at future workshops and events where they can present their projects by sending an email to nhdmo@shsmo.org.
Judging teams evaluated projects on a wide-range of historical topics and were impressed by the quality of the students’ research and creativity. The winners of the contest were announced at the Award Ceremony along with the winners of the teacher merit awards. The History Department in collaboration with the Sons of the American Revolution created two merit awards last year to acknowledge and appreciate the hard work of NHD teachers in incorporating the NHD curriculum into their classrooms. The George Hummasti High School Teacher Merit Award this year went to Mr. Timothy Pfeil, a social studies instructor at Greenwood Laboratory School. The winner of the William Garrett Piston Middle School Teacher Merit Award was Coach H. C. Pfeifer, an 8th grade and Advanced Social Studies teacher as well as a football and track coach at Reed Academy.