DAY OF REFLECTION

By Scott Moyers ~ Southeast Missourian

Hundreds of area students were role-reversed historians Saturday, giving detailed lectures to teachers on sophisticated topics like the long-term ramifications of Pearl Harbor, the impact of fascism in Italy or the lessons learned from Japanese internment camps.

The 500 or so students from 18 area schools spent weeks, and in some cases months, preparing their projects for the Missouri History Day at Southeast Missouri State University.

Missouri History Day is a part of National History Day, a national competition where students make presentations relevant to the annual theme. This year's theme was "Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History."

The students, mainly from grades 6-12, presented their topics to groups of judges, including university professors, local historians and others who profess a deep love of prior events. Some of the students sounded like they belonged at the front of a lecture hall.

"After Pearl Harbor, we put 110,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps because we didn't trust them," said Julie White, a 16-year-old sophomore from Risco High School. "President Roosevelt signed executive order 9066 to do it himself."

More than facts

Just like White, students all over the University Center were spitting out facts and figures that cause some to cringe on exam days. But beyond the minutiae, they gave events context and explained what it meant for the people of the time.

That's exactly what history professor Dr. Frank Nickell said was needed.

"They have to be able to defend what they do," said Nickell, who coordinates the History Day contests. "We're getting away from history as just a chronicling of events. They have to know what it meant, tie it to a broader theme and how it affected people in a human way."

The students had to do oral interviews, document sources, write papers explaining how they performed research and prepare a visual presentation of some sort, whether it was a PowerPoint presentation, re-enactment, or cardboard display.

Some went out of their way to be creative. Senior Julia Hixon of Greenville, Mo., gave a dramatic oral presentation as if she were an observer watching as the nine black students were escorted into Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., by soldiers in 1957.

Her performance was called "Integration By Bayonet: Crisis At Central High School."

Others were more subtle. One student ordered old fascist newspapers on the eBay Web site for part of his presentation. Another found a 60-year-old camera that still works to demonstrate what industrial revolution muckraking photojournalists used.

The winners go on to the state contest on April 13 in Columbia, Mo., and could advance to a national contest at the University of Maryland in June. Winners could receive anything from a scholarship to Southeast Missouri State University to trophies.

"I started my project last June," said Andrew Tilmon, 17, of Bernie High School. "I put a lot of hard work into it."

Dr. Joseph Werne, a history professor at Southeast, served as one of dozens of judges who looked at entries.

"We're asking them how they came up with the topic, ask them where they got their sources, their opinion on the focus of their project and how that fits into the theme," he said. "It helps them think about the historical process. The array of topics is endless."

Parents said it was good that their children got involved.

"It helps them develop communication skills and learn about history," said David Halter, who is the father of a sixth-grader in Scott City.

Mark Ham, who is the father of a fifth-grade girl in Puxico, said history never stops being important.

"It helps them learn how we got where we are," he said.

Nickell was recognized for his continuous service to History Day, which he has helped organize since 1979. Nickell was one of the original founders of the Missouri State History Day and continues to function as the regional director.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137