National History Day - Haley, Lauren and Alex
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(Left to right.) Lauren Pfiffner, Haley Harris-Bloom, and Alex Gerber celebrate their win at the National History Day county competition with their coach, sixth grade English and history teacher, Loreen Azevedo. |
Haley Harris-Bloom, Lauren Pfiffner, and Alex Gerber had to do a National History Day (NHD) project. Every student in their sixth grade class at Sonoma Country Day School in Santa Rosa, California, had to do a National History Day project. It was a mandatory school project. The three sixth graders were not too thrilled about working on such a large project, but at least, they joked at the time, it would give them an excuse to spend time together on the weekends. They knew they would have to put in a lot of hard work to receive a good grade, but what they did not expect is that their effort and dedication would transfer into a rewarding experience extending outside of the classroom.
Once they got the assignment, Haley, Lauren, and Alex had to choose a format for their project and a topic. The rules for NHD state that students can work as individuals or a group to prepare a paper, an exhibit, a documentary, or a performance that fits into the year's theme. Since the theme for the 2003 contest is Rights and Responsibilities, the group decided to produce a documentary on the lives and achievements of Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart. Initially they did not think there was any connection between Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart; they only chose to do a feature on the two women as a matter of compromise because Haley admired Mrs. Roosevelt and was interested in politics while Lauren had already done a report on Ms. Earhart and wanted to learn more. However, one of the most interesting things that the group learned while doing their project, Haley said, "was that Amelia and Eleanor were alive in the same time frame and Amelia even took Eleanor for a ride in her plane. We were not expecting to find that." Using that piece of information the group focused on comparing the rights and responsibilities of both Roosevelt and Earhart. Since the two women were also pioneers in their respective careers, Haley, Lauren, and Alex decided to name their documentary film "Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady of the World and Amelia Earhart: First Lady of the Sky."
Producing "Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady of the World and Amelia Earhart: First Lady of the Sky" was an experience that left this group of sixth graders clamoring to learn more. In doing their research they contacted the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library to learn more about Eleanor Roosevelt. Since the Library holds almost 3 million pages of material related to the former First Lady and delegate to the United Nations, it was a logical place to look for information. Haley, Lauren, and Alex were also surprised and excited to learn from the Library's web site that it works with many National History Day students and encourages them to use the Library's resources. The Library provided the group with sound recordings of Mrs. Roosevelt's speeches, copies of her letters and documents, and even arranged for a phone interview with a staff member. All of these elements were then incorporated into the documentary. The group had very complimentary things to say about the help they received from the FDR Library. At the end of their project Haley remarked, "Ann Marie Gleeson [FDR Library Public Affairs Specialist] was a wonderful person to work with. She was very nice and did whatever she could to help us out. Next time we do anything about Eleanor or Franklin Roosevelt the FDR Library and Museum is our first choice! We highly suggest it!"
But in the end it was Haley, Lauren, and Alex's hard work and dedication that paid off. They entered their film in the Junior Division (grades 6-8) Group Documentary Film category in the Santa Rosa County competition and came in second place. "The most surprising thing about our project," the three stated, "was that it won the county level. We just did it for a school project and even though we worked hard, we didn't think that it was going to come in second place." Their win at the county level qualified the group to enter "Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady of the World and Amelia Earhart: First Lady of the Sky" in the NHD state finals in Los Angeles with finalists from California's 50 counties. The state finals were held in May, and although the documentary did not place, Haley, Alex, and Lauren had a great time and the experience has inspired them to work on another NHD project for next year's competition.
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Congratulations to Alex, Haley, and Lauren, and to everyone who
participated in this year's National History Day competition!
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Each year the FDR Library works with many students like Haley Harris-Bloom, Lauren Pfiffner, and Alex Gerber on National History Day projects. Local students have traveled to the Library to do research firsthand, while other students have used the Library's online resources or have requested packets of material. National History Day participants have used photographs, documents, speeches, and sound recordings from the Library's holdings. A few of these students have even advanced to the national finals held in June in Maryland. If you would like to use the FDR Library for your National History Day project, please e-mail roosevelt.education@nara.gov or call 1-800-FDR-VISIT.