The Southwest Voice

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Tevis Junior High 8th graders Mikayla Feil, MacKenzie Hooper and Daniel McDonald will be representing Tevis at the State History Day competition in Sacramento, May 8 - 11.

History Day is an extra curricular history competition where participants research a topic as it relates to the annual theme.  The theme this year is Conflict and Compromise in History.  Coincidentally, both teams chose to study the Internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

MacKenzie Hooper is competing in the "Individual Exhibit" category.  She will present her research on a display board explaining about  Japanese Americans from Bakersfield.   Each team is required to submit an annotated bibliography accompanied by a 500 word process paper describing their project.

Mikayla Feil and Daniel McDonald chose to compete in the "Group Performance" category.  Their research is presented in a 10 minute drama where they question the constitutionality of interning American citizens.  Each team must adhere to specific rules for their category.  All participants must answer questions from the judges about their topic and from information listed in their bibliography.

Both teams had the opportunity to visit the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.  Daniel was impressed by the frame of a barracks brought in from Heart Mountain, Wyoming.  MacKenzie was overwhelmed by the stack of luggage representing the "only what you can carry" rule going into the camps.  Mikayla enjoyed talking to their docent, Frank Kikuchi, about his life at Manzanar.  She was saddened to learn that he never received his high school diploma since he was sent to the camps a short time before he was to graduate.  Talking to individuals who have lived the history they are studying is an exciting part of the History Day experience.

At the state level there is a "finals" round in each category.   Two winners from each category will represent California at the National Competition in Washington DC in June, 2008.

We congratulate these two teams and wish them luck at the State Competition!