Author: Lou Williams

Maryland History Day-Frequently Asked Questions

Posted on by Lou Williams

You are getting ready for the big day – the Maryland History Day state contest at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on May 7th. The Maryland History Day staff is here to answer some of our frequently asked questions.

Where is the competition being held?

Various buildings on the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Campus. The address is 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 2120.

Where should I park? Is it free?

Parking is free all over the campus. Here is a map of various parking options.

Where should I go when I get to campus?

All students should first report to the third floor of University Center in order to pick up their student packet. From there, you may make your way to your judging location.

What time am I scheduled to present?

The competition schedule has been posted online. Students should arrive at least 45 minutes before their scheduled time to give themselves time for traffic, finding a place to park, registering, and finding their judging location.

Exhibit students should drop of their projects between 8:00am – 9:00am, if they are presenting between 9:30am – 10:30am. Students who are traveling greater distances and have a later interview time can drop of their exhibit when they arrive.

What should I bring with me?

  • Exhibit Category – bring 4 copies of the process paper and annotated bibliography to place in front of your exhibit (3 for first round judges, and 1 additional copy in case it is needed for the runoff round).
  • Documentary and Performance Categories – bring 4 copies of the process paper and annotated bibliography (3 for first round judges, and 1 additional copy in case it is needed for judges in the runoff round).
  • Website Category – although your process paper and annotated bibliography are integrated into your website, we suggest that you bring 3 copies of your process paper and annotated bibliography to the contest in case judges would like to look at hard copies of these materials during the interview.
  • Paper Category – although judges already have a copy, we suggest that you bring one copy of your paper and annotated bibliography with you for reference.

What is the judging like?

The judging at the state competition might be slightly different from your experience at the district level.  Students are not asked to present their project as they would a project in class. With the exception of documentaries and performances, the judges have had some time to look at your projects ahead of time. Instead, the judging is more of a conversation. Judges will ask various questions regarding your process in the creation of the project: how did you find your primary sources, why did you choose this topic, etc.

 Is the judging open to the public?

With the exception of papers and exhibits, all category judging is open to the public. However, we ask that the general public remain quiet in the rooms and out in the hallways so as to not disturb the students and the judges during the interview.

What is there to do?

We are hosting a documentary film festival with a selection of History Day documentaries that will run from 11am to 2:45pm in Lecture Hall 1. At 2:15pm, documentary filmmaker Matt White will discuss his work and show clips from his upcoming documentary on the Beatles! Morning first round judging and afternoon runoff judging in the documentary, performance, and website categories is open to the public, and the exhibit hall will be open to the public when judging is not taking place. Students and their families may also choose to travel to Baltimore to take in historical and cultural offerings there.  We have put together a list of things to do and places to see.

Do I have to attend the awards ceremony?

Attendance at the awards ceremony is not required, but it is encouraged. All first and second place winners will be announced, as well as special prize winners. Students can still win special prizes even if they did not self-nominate – the judges also nominate projects for prizes. If you are unable to attend the ceremony and you win a prize, we will reach out to you the week following the contest.

When will I receive the judges’ evaluation comment sheets?

Following the contest we will sort and scan thousands of evaluation sheets. We will make every effort to email all of the scanned forms to every teacher within 10 days (to 2 weeks?), and teachers will be asked to share the comments with you.

If you have more questions, please contact Judy Dobbs, jdobbs@mdhc.org, or Courtney Hobson, chobson@mdhc.org.

The Baltimore Uprising: my protest next time

Posted on by Lou Williams

*In a unique offering this month, Part 2 of this blog post about Kaye Whitehead’s experience watching her two sons protest during the Baltimore Uprising is posted on her personal blog.

I have been writing poetry for as long as I can remember. It is the power of the pen on paper that has sustained me and has kept me. It is the one place that I consider to be my familiar, where I am most at home and I do not feel like I am alone. I wrote my first poem when I was 12 years old and there are days when I go back and read it to remind myself of who I used to be. Poetry, in so many ways, saved my life and on those days when I felt that I was done, it would remind me that I still had more to say, more to share, and more to give to the world.

I published my first chapbook, red zinger lov/starved blues: notes of a wummon/child, in 1995and it sold exactly 100 copies (they were numbered). I used to travel around with them in my bag and like every other starving poet I would pull them out and try to sell them on the spot. I was young then and the world through a poet’s eye seemed bleak. I was depressed all the time and was absolutely convinced that the racism and sexism that was rampant in this country was going to kill me before I turned 30. I never thought I would grow old, never thought I would get married, or have children, or get gray hair. But I did and over time, my poetry gave way to essays, my short stories gave way to academic papers, my depression gave way to enjoying the moments of extraordinary joy that just come from still being here. I have spent years struggling in the darkness, thinking about what it means to be brave, to be a fighter. I have spent years trying to remember what my voice sounded like. I have spent hours trying to trust myself enough to be as honest on the page today as I was when I first began. I have stepped out into darkness, time and time again and without fail, there has always been something very strong for me to stand on or I have been taught how to fly.

I started writing RaceBrave on July 7, 2014, on the day when Eric Garner was murdered when my sons challenged me to write something everyday about what was happening around the country in the #BlackLivesMatter Movement. It was on that day, two years after the murder of Trayvon Martin and after coming through Ferguson being repeated throughout the country, that I realized that I too could no longer breathe. I could no longer swallow the lies. I had to find a way to be RaceBrave and to give a voice to my pain. And so I wrote poetry and along the way, Tamir Rice was killed, Freddie Gray was killed, the Baltimore Uprising happened, and I watched the birth of a spirit of activism in my sons.

The following poem, entitled “black mommy activism p1,” was written while we were standing in Freddie Gray’s neighborhood waiting for the start of another march and “the birth of your activism” was written in pieces every evening when we arrived back to our car after marching from his neighborhood to City Hall. It has taken me almost 25 years but I have finally returned to the poet that I used to be…

 

 

“black mommy activism p1,” excerpt from RaceBrave

 

for ten days without fail

you marched for freddie gray

you marched for justice

you marched in dream of a better world

in search of a better tomorrow

away from all of our yesterdays

you marched because you wanted to be free

having spent your life listening for the whispers of freedom

you thought you were on your way to free/dom

and that the road went straight through east baltimore

straight through freddie gray’s block

straight through his home

straight through his life

and so you marched

never having marched before

never having struggled before

never having … before

 you marched and marched

you complained while marching

you cried out while marching

and then you found yourself while marching.

I marched too

But I simply marched for you.

About the Author: Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, Ph.D. is Associate Professor, Department of Communication at Loyola University Maryland and the Founding Executive Director at The Emilie Frances Davis Center for Education, Research, and Culture. Her new anthology, RaceBrave, was published in March 2016.

Advice for Maryland History Day Hopefuls from an Alum

Posted on by Lou Williams

It’s the big day. The project is done, you have all of your  written materials printed, you have your lines    memorized, your exhibit finished, or your documentary  is  on file. At this point, you’re probably on at least the  4th  draft of your project, and everything has been  reviewed  and polished more times than you can count.  Beware of  physical or technical difficulties! Demetri and  I had a very  bad moment at the State competition when  part of the  audio for our documentary was deleted the  day of the  competition. We barely got the audio fixed in  time to go  on. This provided a very valuable lesson: take  every  precaution against malfunction or misfortune that  you possibly can. If you are making a documentary,  produce it in as many formats and as many  copies/backups as logically possible. Find some way to  back up or store your website if you are doing that. If you made an exhibit, do not let it get damaged! I would even consider making backup parts for your exhibit in case one gets damaged. If you are doing a performance make an extra costume if possible. If you are in a group, plan for how you would present if a member was ill or missing. Make multiple copies of all written materials and give several copies to each person. Chaos happens! Be prepared for it as much as possible. It would be a shame to be disqualified because of some silly misfortune.

Regardless of category, there is something that everyone has to do in the preliminary judging round: an interview. After you are done presenting your project, performance, documentary etc. a panel of three judges will ask you several questions about your project and topic. It seems like the simplest thing, but it never fails to intimidate students. I’ve watched many other students go through this, and I’ve been through it multiple times myself. The first thing that you have to remember is that the judges never “have it in” for you. You don’t have to worry about a judge being mean to you. What the judges will do is prod you to make sure that you know what you are talking about, and can argue your conclusion effectively. Be prepared for them to challenge any point or argument that you make in your project. This is especially important for controversial topics. If your project is about the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, and you conclude that America was justified in its decision to drop the atom bomb, you must be able to back up this assertion. If you can use the historical evidence and research you’ve been compiling to support your arguments well, a judge will not penalize you even if he or she disagrees with your conclusion.

Other questions the judges may ask will require you to explain your research process or apply your knowledge of your topic to broader scenarios. The judges may ask what you would have done if you had more time to research and present, why you interpreted a certain source the way you did, or how the topic you studied relates to modern issues. The reason they ask you all of these questions is because they want to be sure that you are truly knowledgeable and well versed about your topic, and they want to test your analysis and reasoning skills. That means that all you have to do to impress them in your interview is know what you’re talking about! Beyond that, there is one thing you need to avoid doing, and one thing that you always must do in the interview. You need to avoid making any sort of false or weak claim while speaking; if you can’t back up a point, don’t make it. You need to always answer the question. If a judge asks why you chose a certain source, your answer needs to begin with, “I chose that source because…” It’s a very good idea to practice presenting your project to a group of people. If you can find someone to stage a mock interview and ask you about your project, you will get an excellent chance to practice explaining and defending your project.

As a practical consideration, be sure to dress up nicely for the interview. I won’t tell you what to wear, but I will say that I always upstaged the competition by wearing a suit and tie. Finally, don’t get nervous! If you truly have done your research well and know your way around your topic, all the interview can do is make you sound intelligent.

Good luck to all the students competition in the Maryland History Day competition on May 7, 2016 at UMBC – Maryland History Day Staff