NE Ohio county students bring history alive at YSU today

YOUNGSTOWN

Nearly 300 middle and high school students brought history projects to Youngstown State University today.

It was the first step in a history contest that could take some of the students to Washington, D.C.

This is the 40th year YSU has been an affiliate site for National History Day, said Nicole Marino, a coordinator of the event. Some of the participants will move to the state level in Columbus, before the final contest in Washington.

The students from Ashtabula, Geauga, Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Portage counties created historical projects in one of five categories: documentary, exhibit, paper, performance and website. Some were individual projects, while others were created by groups. They focused their projects around this year’s theme: Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History.

“We generally see some really good work and some very intuitive thought processes from young people, Marino said. “And they can really surprise you in the way they put their thoughts together, link it to the theme and then give you a big overall picture of how they recognize it’s important.”

Unlike history class, History Day “gives [students] an opportunity to follow an interest of their own,” Marino said.

Read more about their projects in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.