Minarets High School partook in National History Day (NHD) for the first time. The students who participated were also the only representatives of Madera County. Minarets had two entries, an individual documentary created by sophomore Johann Ziegler and a group website created by juniors Mackenzie Camacho, Joseph Langley, and Autumn Pecarovich.
For those who do not know, National History Day is a competition with a historical emphasis in which students from 4-12th grades can compete. Each year, a theme is chosen and students need to pick an event in history and show how it relates to the theme. Students put in hours of research in order to produce a competitive project. Strong dedication and motivation to this event must be present in students in order to follow through with their projects and do them well. According to Ziegler “people underestimate how much work goes into thesis-drive research, and National History Day helps kids rise to that challenge.”
With this in mind, these students went through with it. Camacho joined because she was “hoping to be able to develop a greater love for history and the stories and lessons it tells today.” She accomplished this. Ziegler participated so she could further her love of history.
Students who are considering participating in NHD next year, Camacho recommends to have “as many people as possible review your project and make sure to listen, and not ignore their advice.” Ziegler warns not to be “discouraged when you see the list of everything you need to include and/or change” and goes on to add that “[e]verything looks scarier until you actually sit down and start it.”
The Minarets entries into the statewide National History Day competition were organized by Greta Ziegler as part of her Senior Legacy Experience (SLE). Both entries made into the finals round of their respective categories which is very impressive considering this was the first year that Minarets participated.