Area schools prepare for history contest

YOUNGSTOWN — The annual National History Day contest at Youngstown State University is six months away, but organizers say area schools are getting prepared.

As many as 600 pupils in grades six through 12 are expected to compete in the April 5, 2008, event. This year’s theme is “Conflict and Compromise in History.”

National History Day is a program that encourages young people to explore historical subjects related to an annual theme. The contest is actually the culmination of a series of activities designed to help students learn more about history by using the content and methods of the arts, languages, literature and social studies.

Historians, educators and other professionals judge the contest entries, and winners advance to state finals. State winners go on to national competition in June.

Entries in this year’s district event at YSU include pupils from Mahoning, Trumbull, Portage, Ashtabula and Geauga counties.

Teachers interested in having pupils participate should contact the History Department at YSU by e-mail at bjharris01@ysu.edu; by telephone at (330) 941-3452; or by mail at YSU History Department, 1 University Plaza, Youngstown, Ohio 44555.

National History Day, headquartered in College Park, Md., began in Ohio in 1974 and involves about 360,000 schoolchildren from 48 states who compete for scholarships, prizes and national recognition.