Board honors record number of National History Day qualifiers headed to nationals

The Auburn-Washburn Board of Education honored a record group of students who qualified for the National History Day national contest this summer in Maryland. Lindsay Dowell introduced the students and thanked staff, volunteers and parents who supported the yearlong research projects.

Dowell called out staff members and volunteers by name, including Jennifer Sheets Perman in the print shop, Heidi Carlson at the district level and long-time volunteer Alice Birtles, and urged the community to recognize the students’ work. “You are the reason we are here,” Dowell said, thanking students for their “hard work, your perseverance, and your willingness to just learn outside of the walls of your classroom.” Students’ projects included documentaries on the three‑point line in basketball, an exhibit about the interstate highways, a performance about the inventor of the incubator, and a paper on the development of skyscrapers. Dowell noted the district had, for the first time, qualified a sixth grader for nationals.

Students described their final preparations during a brief Q&A; one said they were focused on editing and perfecting projects in the two weeks before nationals. Board members and staff encouraged family sharing of links to performances and exhibit photos so the community can view the work. The board later took a group photo of the qualifiers for the district magazine.