NHD Update

Earlier today the national NHD folks announced that the Coburn amendment had been defeated by a vote of 39-56. Thanks to all who contacted their senators.

URGENT Call to Action

Dear Friend of National History Day:

We need your help urgently. We received word this morning that Senator
Coburn (R-OK) is going to offer an amendment for the Senate to vote on next Monday the 29th that will eliminate ALL funding for earmark programs for the next three fiscal years. Within this definition of earmark are authorized, directed-funded programs like NHD.

As you likely are aware, we are in the midst of an anti-earmark climate. Even though NHD is an authorized program, Congress must include NHD in an appropriations bill each and every fiscal year. The Coburn amendment is likely to pass. This will result in a loss of $500,000 of critically-needed support for National History Day. Over half of this annual funding supports our states/affiliates, many of which need their portion of $5000 to provide the NHD programs that directly benefit teachers and students. The remaining funds provide for the national contest and other critical programs such as the summer teacher institutes.

CALL TO ACTION:

1. The only chance we have is to bombard every senator with requests to vote NO on the Coburn amendment. Please, without delay, make these calls. You can send an email as well but with a short time to make your case, a phone call will have greater impact. Please do not send a postal letter as those do not reach their destinations in Washington, D.C. for weeks due to off-site irradiation procedures. To find telephone numbers for your senators, please go to www.senate.gov.

2. And, please forward this to every supporter of NHD in your state,
asking them to do the same.

Thank you for your support.

Kim


Kim Fortney
Deputy Director
National History Day
0119 Cecil Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Direct Phone: (301) 314-9542
Fax: (301) 314-9767
Email: kim@nhd.org





Ann Claunch, Ph.D.
Director of Curriculum
National History Day
0119 Cecil Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD
505-459-1179
Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences

Theme Discussion

Here is a link to the transcript from the most recent NHD theme discussion on Debate and Diplomacy in history. The next one will occur later this week.

http://nhd.org/Webdiscussion20111.htm

Thank you Laura for the information!

Normandy: Sacrifice for Freedom

National History Day has released the information on their 2011 Summer workshop for teachers and students. Entitled "Normandy: Sacrifice for Freedom" this workshop is designed for teacher/student teams and will conclude in France! For more information please go to:

http://nationalhistoryday.org/normandyinstitute.htm

Good luck!

2011 Summer NHD Workshop for Teachers

Laura McCarty, Vice President of the Georgia Humanities Council informed us that next summer National History Day will be conducting a workshop for teams of teachers on World War II. The workshop will begin in Maryland and conclude in France! Be on the lookout for additional information about the application process!

National History Day 2011 Theme

 

 

Annual Theme

Why Teach with a Theme?

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Every year National History Day frames students' research within a historical theme. The theme is chosen for the broad application to world, national or state history and its relevance to ancient history or to the more recent past. This year's theme is Debate & Diplomacy: Successes, Failures, Consequences. The intentional selection of the theme for National History Day is to provide an opportunity for students to push past the antiquated view of history as mere facts and dates and drill down into historical content to develop perspective and understanding.

The NHD theme provides a focused way to increase student's historical understanding by developing a lens to read history, an organizational structure that helps students place information in the correct context and finally, the ability to see connections over time.


(Information Attribution: http://nationalhistoryday.org/AnnualTheme.htm)

Welcome!

Welcome to the LaGrange College History Department’s National History Day Page. This page is part of the department’s effort to support and assist Georgia educators as they work to create dynamic and active learning opportunities for their students through National History Day.  We hope this page can be a gateway to information, resources and support. 

Have questions? Send queries to NHDhistory@lagrange.edu .