Two Houghton students plan to represent their school and the Upper Peninsula at this year’s National History Day Competition next week. But they need some help to get to the University of Maryland for the event. Samantha Blake’s mom, Jessica Tolonen says the pair recently placed first at the state competition at Central Michigan University.
Some kids will do a documentary website. The two children in this particular instance did a performance. Otherwise, most people do exhibits where you have like the trifold board and you present your exhibit. – Jessica Tolonen, parent
Blake and her partner, Rosie Eisele, chose to tell the story of how modern democracy was created through the Magna Carta. Tolonen adds they wrote and created a performance piece to show the opposing perspectives of the baron and the king.
You know, they have the costumes, they made their costumes. They used items that they had at home already and a couple of items from Goodwill to create their costumes to try to represent that era. – Jessica Tolonen, parent
The state competition was the first time Tolonen says she saw the performance in full. Having a backstage look while the students practiced and studied outside of school.
So watching them and watching them interact with each other and just pull the excitement and the energy together was just an amazing thing to see. – Jessica Tolonen, parent
Since qualifying as national finalists in the Senior Group Performance category in May Blake and Eisele have worked to refine their performance and annotations. The students plan to leave for the competition this weekend and hope to raise 5,300 dollars to support airfare and boarding accommodations. Tolonen knows it’s a lot to ask in such a short amount of time, but hopes to see Blake and Eisele’s hard work pay off.
The National History Day non-profit organization aims to improve the teaching and learning of history and has been funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1979. The non-profit’s annual competition has been a catalyst for many students going on to careers in academics. In 2001 the American Historical Association’s executive director championed National History Day as the greatest impact on the historical profession. The project-based learning program encourages students across the country to learn about history and empowers them to explore topics they’re curious about. Learn about National History Day here.
Those interested in supporting Samantha Blake and Rosie Eisele traveling to the University of Maryland to participate in the 2025 National History Day Competition, representing Houghton and the Upper Peninsula, can find details here.
