Program Summary Whitney Olson

Posted by Rich Randolph 
on Feb 28, 2015
 

History Matters!

 
 
Whitney Olson, County Director of National History Day, and History Teacher of the Year Award recipient confidently claims:  History Matters!  Stories connect, inspire and develop critical thinking patterns that transform lives and guide future careers of students. 
 
National History Day (NHD) is actually a yearlong run-up of student research to probe deeper into historic issues and become more “Information Fluent”.  Through learning and applying critical thinking skills, students come to understand and interpret the interactions between people and events with discerning insight.
 
National History Day is an academically acclaimed program with over 500,000 students participating nationally each year. National History Day challenges students in grades 4 - 12 in an inter-disciplinary research project that embraces project based learning. History Day teaches students to:
  • Conduct in-depth research
  • Use primary and secondary sources
  • Read a variety of texts
  • Analyze and synthesize information
  • Write and present historical content
Students choose a topic that relates to an annual theme, research that topic, and develop their research into one of five presentation categories: research paper, exhibit, documentary, performance, or website. Fourth and fifth grade students present their research on a 2-D Display board. Students may then enter their projects into History Day competitions at school, regional, state, and national levels. 
 
NHD - Sonoma County is operated by a non-profit, the History Education Project. The program is open to students from all school settings in Sonoma County.  Our primary sponsor is the Lytton Rancheria, the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians.
 
Guidance from County Offices of Education provides structure in analyzing data, arranging field trips, such as one student discovered in her personally guided tour of Jet Propulsion Laboratory and interview with a NASA program director.  Financial support enables travel and teacher training.  Overall, the focused, intense research is excellent early preparation for college academic rigor. Mrs. Olson leverages her personal pride and support in the project with her husband’s interest and skills, offering technical assistance to students in preparing exhibits and video productions.
 
The high caliber of results was apparent in the student project Whitney shared from the 11-year-old middle high school coed.  Her project was the California State winning entry:  Artificial Satellites:  Opening New Frontiers.  Composed through Internet research, teacher guidance, and NASA tour and interview, the student created a comprehensive perspective on the effect the 1957 Russian launching of their Sputnik satellite had on the United States’ commencement into the race for space.  Her critical analysis surveyed the political, military and civilian issues surrounding space exploration.  Did you know NASA; our National Aeronautics & Space Administration agency was established in 1958, by then President Eisenhower as a civilian agency to promote non-military uses of space, “For the Benefit of All”?
 
We are never too young or old to learn, and NHD certainly gives an early start to the love of learning, and better ways to discover and understand the status quo, on earth as well as above it! 
 
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