Students Take A Stand For History Day

Events such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Stonewall Riots are moments that go down in history.  Keeping up with the theme of Taking A Stand In History the Northwest Regional History competition was held on BSU’s campus.

There were 47 total projects created by 90 students competing for a chance to advance to the next round. One of those hopefuls was Bemidji Middle School 6th grader Brooklyn Baumgartner who’s competing for the first time.

“When I first started I thought Ruby Bridges was the first African American to go to an integrated school, but I found out that it was Linda Brown,” said Bemidji Middle School Student Brooklyn Baumgartner.

Students from nine schools in Northwest Minnesota including Cass Lake, Remer and Red Lake represented with their projects. Violet May, a senior at Red Lake High School spent more than six months working on her exhibit about the Red Lake Timber Industry. May had a personal connection as she says her mother’s family logged wood in freezing temperatures.

“Every year it’s fun just to think of a different topic then do all kinds of hardcore research on it,” said Violet May, Red Lake High School student.

In his 29th year as History Day Program Director, Tim Hoogland, also known as Mr. History. He’s seen the program grow to where it is now with 250 schools and thirty thousand students participating. Hoogland says these projects help students get college ready and also prepares them for classes outside of history.

“Get to see all those investments that the state of Minnesota has made you know the education of children all coming together,” said Tim Hoogland, History Day program director.

Judges look for the historical research and analysis for each project. Red Lake Middle School students Justice Iceman and Bruce Taylor took a different approach for their project about slavery. They came up with a website chronicling Harriet Tubman and her role in the Underground Railroad.

“We just wanted to learn about slavery and how they lived back then, how they were treated,” said Red Lake Middle School Student Bruce Taylor.

The winners will move on to the state competition held on April 29th at the University of Minnesota.