SEQUIM — Seven students from Sequim will travel to the East Coast in June to compete in the History Day national competition, pitting their extensively researched documentaries, research papers and dramatic presentations against more than 4,000 of the best of their peers from across the country.
These students have already won top honors at the state level.
The Sequim School District is also one of the top schools in the nation in this contest, regularly sending several students to the national finals.
The students’ work will be on display for the public at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Sequim Middle School cafeteria.
The showcase is also a fund-raiser to help defray the $6,000 cost of sending the students and two teachers to the University of Maryland, where the contest takes place.
The contest is part of History Day, which involves a “big honkin’ research project,” said Todd Beuke, a history teacher at Sequim Middle School.
Students pick a topic related to the year’s theme — this year it’s “Communication: The Key to Understanding” — then work out a thesis statement that takes a stand on the topic and delve deeply into it, mainly using primary sources such as letters, diaries and government documents.
