History Day on the Snowy Roads

On Friday I visited with the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students at St. Joseph School in Monroeville. The students have all selected their individuals are started to dig into their backgrounds and focus their projects. A really good point came up in our discussion.

Take a famous person in history like Helen Keller. Well, why was she famous? She's well known because she overcame being deaf and blind. How do we know her story? What makes her significant.

These last two questions really delve into the meat of a History Day project. Don't take for granted that someone is important because they're well known. Why are they well known? Why do we know their stories. Or, conversely, if the person isn't well known why should we know their story?

Another example is Beethoven. Why is he well known? Because he wrote music. What was so special or important about his music that we still know it and listen to it today? What did Beethoven do that was different or innovate.

So the lesson, find out why your individual is significant in history. Question the obvious. We learn about a lot of individuals in history class, so we think that's what makes them important. But it is their actions and their legacy that makes them important in history.

I'd like to thank the brave students at St. Joseph's for sharing their ideas, listening to my comments and criticism, and playing our world famous game show!