SHS Senior Competing at the State Level National History Day!

by Nate Everett, History Department – Sandwich High School

On Saturday, March 7th 2015, Sandwich High School senior, Joanna O’Gorman competed along with over 200 students in National History Day. We are extremely proud to announce that Joanna won 2nd place in the regional competition, and is now advancing to the states held at Stoneham High School on April 11th. Her documentary on John Philip Sousa directly highlights this year’s theme: Leadership and Legacy and the impact his marches has had on American social, political, and military history.

Joanna is an amazing student. In addition to being a creative and constructive thinker, she is organized, dedicated, and an exceptionally hard worker. She is a member of National Honor Society and is also involved in many extracurricular activities including track and the New England Conservatory Youth Repertory Orchestra. As the first student to compete in National History Day, Joanna is a trailblazer.

National History Day (NHD) is a year-long academic program offering half a million students the opportunity to conduct original historical research on topics of interest. Students may create research papers, poster exhibits, documentaries, websites, or original performances for local, state, and national contests.

At the Sandwich STEM Academy, NHD will be offered next year as an elective for interested students. In addition, high school history and social science teachers are integrating many strategies from NHD into their courses and electives as well. Following in Joanna’s example, we look forward to creating our own legacy of historical research for many years to come!