For the Star Journal

Projects by five James Williams Middle School students are headed to the National History Day State Competition in Madison later this month.

• “Thomas Edison vs. Nicola Tesla” exhibit by Ella Miljevich
• Website, “Necessary and Unnecessary Compromises for All-American Girls Baseball,” by Piper Stinebrink
• Individual exhibit featuring an exploration of the debates that went into the Endangered Species Act, by Lexi Terzinski
• Group exhibit of the debates that went into the Endangered Species Act by Katelyn Piller and Lili Greenwood

For nearly ten years JWMS students have participated in National History Day, a nationwide contest where students select a topic from an annual theme for deep research and the creation of a project to share. This year seventh graders tackled the theme of “Debate and Diplomacy in History” which provided a wide array of project choices – nearly any event where a disagreement had to be worked out.

For weeks in February they took a dive into essential research skills from introductory secondary sources to those golden primary sources created right at the scene. Students mastered the citation of their sources and the creation of a product that would be informative and engaging to an audience.

The judges for the local competition held in March were members of the Rhinelander Woman’s Club and Rhinelander Partners in Education.

Qualifiers then entered the regional competition held virtually in Minocqua this year, and from that event the four JWMS state qualifiers move on to the state competition.

The virtual awards ceremony can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUN-kMsa6GE.

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Two of the five students advancing to state competition with their National History Day projects are Piper Stinebrink, left, and Sofia Miljevich.