Ticonderoga, NY – Seventeen middle and high school students from the North Country won top prizes at North Country History Day on Saturday, March 12, at Fort Ticonderoga’s Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center. These students will advance to compete at New York State History Day in Cooperstown on April 23.

“What a great day!” said Rich Strum, the Fort’s Director of Education, and also serves as North Country Regional Coordinator for New York State History Day. “Not only was it exciting to see student projects, but it was great to see students from throughout the region sharing with each other their common interest in history and what history can teach us about ourselves. Each and every student participant invested a great deal of time and energy in historical research and creating compelling projects reflecting this year’s them of ‘Revolution, Reform, Reaction in History.’”

A generous gift from Wal-Mart of Ticonderoga helped support the North Country History Day Regional Contest.

Winners in the North Country region include:

• Jonathan Brassard, Cole Gaddor, Kyle Gifaldi, Megan Maloy, and Dylan Scozzafava, from Moriah Central School, took first place in the Senior Group Website category with their website “The Roman Revolution: Gateway to America.”
• Taylor Morse, Jordan Pelkey, Emily Sipley, Darcy Smith, and Jamie Vogt, from Peru Middle School, took first place in the Junior Group Documentary category with their documentary “The Kalmar Union.”
• Courtney Wilbanks, from Beekmantown Middle School, took first place in the Junior Individual Exhibit category with her exhibit “More than Just a Job!”
• Emily Powers, from Ticonderoga Middle School, took second place in the Junior Individual Exhibit category with her exhibit “The Suffrage Movement: A Fight for Women’s Rights.”
• Allison LaRock and Alexandria Whitney, from Beekmantown Middle School, took first place in the Junior Group Exhibit category with their exhibit “Titanic Mistakes: Lesson Learned.”
• Makayla Holt and Amanda Hurlburt, from St. Mary’s School in Ticonderoga, took second place in the Junior Group Exhibit category with their exhibit “The Reform of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.”
• Nathan Wilhelm, from Edison Home School, took first place in the Junior Individual Website category with his website “How One Person Stirred the Conscience of America.”

National History Day is the nation’s leading program for history education in schools. The program annually engages 2 million people in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. Students research history topics of their choice related to an annual theme and create exhibits, documentaries, performances, research papers, and website designs. They may enter in competition at the regional, state, and national level. Participants include students in grades 6-8 in the Junior Division and grades 9-12 in the Senior Division. National History Day also provides educational services to students and teachers, including a summer internship program, curricular materials, internet resources, and annual teacher workshops and training institutes. Fort Ticonderoga hosts teacher workshops about History Day each fall in the North Country and Regional Coordinator Rich Strum is available to meet with teachers at their schools to introduce the program.

Teachers and students from Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and Warren counties interested in participating in North Country History Day during the 2012-13 school year should contact Rich Strum, North Country Regional Coordinator for New York State History Day, at rstrum@fort-ticonderoga.org or at (518) 585-6370.