Students enter history competition

Students from Camp Sherman's Black Butte School will offer their best projects to the judges at the eighth annual Oregon State National History Day Competition finals on Saturday, April 12 at Willamette University in Salem.

The students are among 150 competitors from 14 Oregon middle and high schools. Students will present papers, exhibit displays, media presentations and performances on the theme "Rights and Responsibilities in History.'

Oregon Council for the Humanities Executive Director Christopher Zinn will present the keynote speech at the Awards Ceremony, which takes place at 3:30 p.m. in Willamette University's Cone Chapel.

Each of these students has earned a spot in the finals by winning local and regional competitions earlier this year. First and second place winners in each category at the state contest advance to the National Competition in College Park, Maryland in June.

Several Black Butte School students have made it to the national finals in previous years.

The National History Day competition in Oregon is a program designed to draw young people into exploring the past.

The program nurtures excellence in junior and senior high students by encouraging them to discover their own investments in history and then to create historical projects.

Participants working individually or as a group present their original historical research findings in papers, exhibit displays, media presentations and performances.