National History Day has been a part of CHS since 1995, but this year was remarkable in the number of participants and placements.

The National History Day (NHD) website said that NHD is “a year-long academic program focused on historical research for 6th to 12th grade students.”

Every year more than 500,000 students enter to compete in the NHD competitions. Over 5 million people who have competed in NHD have gone on to put in to practice what they have learned by participating in NHD.

According to Kevin Wagner, program chair and social studies teacher, “National History Day makes history come alive for students by engaging them in the discovery of the historical, cultural and social.”

By participating in NHD students can develop and enhance skills such as comprehension, critical reading, and writing.

Every year, NHD has a different theme of which the projects that students across the country research and create.

All students who placed in the school NHD competition received a ribbon based on their winning level and first place winners also were given NHD mugs with this year’s NHD theme and phrase on it. This year’s phrase is “It’s more than a day…It’s an experience!”

The type of projects that are submitted to the NHD competition can range from websites, exhibits, documentaries, research papers, and performances.

Samuel Haseman placed first in the Senior Individual website category and said. “I think [NHD] was a very educational experience and I enjoyed the actual competition, as well.”

This year was been a record breaking one for Carlisle, with 183 students competing in the NHD competition. Of the 183 students who participated, 51 of them will be advancing to the regional competition which will be held on March 1 at Messiah College.

Check out our list of NHD winners here, and the NHD website here.