Kids give edgier history lesson,

02/10/2002

Kids give edgier history lesson, Revolutionary theme dominates History Day

event

By Helmut Schmidt

hschmidt@forumcomm.com

As Mike Huttlin fingered the frets and plucked the strings of his bass, a spacey, smokey jazz riff floated over an audience of history lovers in Minard Hall. Then leaving the notes of "Continuum" to fade, the Fargo ninth-grader told a trio of judges why he believed Jaco Pastorius was "one of the most

innovative bass players to ever live."

The performance was part of a greatly expanded Region V History Day competition Saturday at North Dakota State University. Multimedia documentaries, papers and exhibits were joined by dance, skits a nd strumming as Fargo and West Fargo students showed their talents as historians.

The theme of this year's competition is "Revolution, Reaction and Reform."

"Students could find an incredibly wide variety of things to do," said Victor Youngs, a ninth-grade teacher at Fargo's Discovery Junior High. Topics included combines, nylons, Walt Disney's Snow White, the Salem Witch trials, Title IX, microchips, hippies and the Tuskegee airmen. Youngs, along with Geni Hart and Kathy Fisher, got 390 Discovery students involved in the school competition. Their work doubled the number of local students going to state by filling previously empty senior (9th-12th-grade) categories.

There were 30 entries in the junior division (6th-8th grade) and 35 in the senior division, said Larry Peterson, event co-coordinator. "We're really pleased with the growth," said Barb Handy-Marchello, another co-coordinator.

"This project tapped into huge talents," Hart said. "I think kids learned there was history in everything."

Huttlin's mother, Marianne, was astonished at the work her son put in.

"I was just amazed how heavily he delved into this," she said. "Mike has

gone online (saying) 'I'm going to see if I can contact Jaco's wife."

Jolene Beckman, who teaches fourth- through sixth-graders in West Fargo's

gifted program, said the competition makes history fun and the work worthwhile.

"It was like going on a treasure hunt for them," she said of one of her groups. "It kind of gave them a new sense of what history was."

Saturday's winners go to the state competition in Bismarck March 1. The top

three winners there go on to the national competition, held in June in

Washington, D.C. Junior Paper: - Braden Kirkey -- Indian code talkers. Junior Group Exhibit:- Emily Dahley, Kasey Pulkrabek and Ailina Tyulyandina -- Bonanza farms.

Junior Group Performance: - Amy Walen and Kimberely Stulken -- Florence

Nightengale.

Junior Individual Documentary:- Alexa Kersting -- Susan B. Anthony. Senior

Paper: - Emily Holum -- female body image. Senior Individual Exhibit: - Erin

Tabor -- Title IX; - Meghan Strand -- invention of nylon. Senior Ind.

Performance: - Mike Huttlin -- Jaco Pastorius, bass guitarist. Senior Group

Performance: - Sharlynn Peck, Lindsay Boyd and Amanda Mohs -- combines and

reapers; - Chelsea Tweit, Lindsey Dietrich, Amanda Hurlbutt and Becca Kotte

-- Martha Graham. Senior Group Documentary: - Sarah Radniecki, Samantha Ewoniuk

and Jamie Ohlheiser -- Fargo flood of 1997; - Mary Lunde and Josie Danz --

Manhattan Project. Senior Group Exhibit: - Lauren Hegg and Amy Crawford --

women workers in World War II; - Austin Morris and Joel Sandgren -- Tuskegee

airmen; - Rachel Briggs, Shana Haugen and Lacey Heuer -- Walt Disney and

Snow White.

The junior group documentary and senior individual documentary categories

were unfilled.

Categories can be unfilled due to lack of entries or entries were not

considered to be high enough quality to compete at the state level.