By Marisa Dawson, Courtesy Photos
Students at Bennington Middle School are heading to the national stage after an impressive showing at the Nebraska State National History Day Contest held April 25 at Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Bennington Middle School had 11 students compete with eight projects at the state contest, with eight students representing six projects qualifying to advance to the National History Day Contest this June in College Park. In addition, BMS history teacher Amy Diegel was recognized as Nebraska’s National History Day Teacher of the Year.
“This is actually only Bennington’s second year competing for National History Day,” Diegel said. “This is my first group where I’ve had students do it a second year with me.”
Diegel said watching students grow through the process has been especially meaningful. “They just really did exceed every expectation that I had,” she said. “I’ve never started with a group as big as this year and had so many make it to nationals.”
According to Diegel, three girls qualified for nationals for the second consecutive year. “By making it to nationals, they’re literally part of the 0.5% of all NHD projects done throughout the world,” she said. “And to have eight students going, it’s insane.”
National History Day projects are centered around an annual theme, with this year’s theme being “Revolution, Reaction, and Reform.” Students spend months researching, building, and refining projects in categories including performances, exhibits, and websites.
Students participating in the program work after school twice a week, totaling more than 60 hours of work outside of normal coursework and extracurricular activities. “They aren’t just learning history, they truly are doing history,” Diegel said.
She explained that students choose their own topics based on their interests and passions. “One of my talents is finding passion,” Diegel said. “I’m really good at listening to what a student likes to do and trying to help them find a topic that they love so much that they’re willing to research it for a whole year.”
She said the projects help students see history in a broader and more personal way. “They’re not sitting there thinking it’s just things that are old, wars, kings, and things like that,” she said. “It’s also all of these things that they’re learning about, and they get to tell those stories.”
One project in particular gained national attention beyond the competition itself. Seventh graders Payton Combes and Valeriya Bridgeford created a performance titled Making their Mark: The Women Who Mapped the World, focusing on founders of the Society of Woman Geographers.
Diegel said the students faced significant research challenges while studying explorer and author Blair Niles because very little archival information existed about her. “The girls did that. They read the books that she wrote and co-authored with her husband, and they used that source material to kind of form their performance,” Diegel said.
After winning first place at state, the students shared a video of their performance with the Society of Woman Geographers, which featured the performance on its official website. Representatives are also planning to meet the girls during nationals and are discussing a possible podcast feature later this summer.
“To have seventh graders be featured like that on something that Jane Goodall is a member, Amelia Earhart is a member, all of these famous women in history, and them recognizing Payton and Valeriya, it kind of feels just a little more special than just regular National History Day does,” Diegel said.
Diegel said the competition has also strengthened friendships and confidence among the students. “The friendships that these students make, they really do turn into something that’s like a lifelong type of friendship,” she said. “They’ve gained so much more than just learning how to research something.”
She added that one of her favorite parts of the experience is watching students take ownership of their work. “They own it,” Diegel said. “It’s not just that they do National History Day- they honor it with how they approach everything.”
Looking ahead, Diegel said she hopes to continue growing National History Day opportunities within the district. “I would love to watch it get bigger,” she said. “I honestly will mentor any student in the Bennington district that wants to do a history project because I love what this program does for kids.” She has also offered to share information and materials with other history teachers interested in leading a team.
She hopes students ultimately remember the importance of seeking out and sharing stories from history. “History is always going to belong to those who are willing to seek the truth and tell it well,” Diegel said. “The history is there. You just have to dig.”
Bennington Middle School National History Day state results
- Payton Combes and Valeriya Bridgeford — 1st Place, Junior Group Performance
Making their Mark: The Women Who Mapped the World
- Luke Backhuus — 1st Place, Junior Individual Website
Ink that Changed the World: The Revolution of the Gutenberg Press
- Makenzie Jacobs — 1st Place, Junior Individual Exhibit
A Medical Revolution: The First Organ Transplant
- Layne Winkel — 2nd Place, Junior Individual Website; Honorable Mention, NebraskaLand Nebraska History Award
Bad Acts, Bad Paper: The Ponca Treaty and the Road to Reform
- Amiyah Digilio White and Madeline Uggen — 2nd Place, Junior Group Exhibit
The Author Who Rewrote Himself
- Evelyn Olson — 2nd Place, Junior Individual Exhibit
Dada: A Revolution in Nonsense
