Students prepare for finals of National History Day contest

CEDAR RAPIDS - For just the third time in school history, students from Franklin Middle School are headed to the finals of the National History Day competition.

The theme of this year's competition, June 12 through 16 at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md., is 'Exploration, Encounter, Exchange.”

One of the Franklin entries is a skit titled 'Tricky Dick: Encounters with Controversy.” The 10-minute performance focuses on President Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal.

Seventh-grader Josh Horne, who portrays Nixon, said he came up with the idea for the skit after going through his dad's things.

'He's a huge president buff,” Horne said. 'I started reading stuff he had, and Nixon was one of the more interesting topics.”

Horne said he studied YouTube videos to nail down Nixon's mannerisms and persuaded his friends to take part in the performance. Fellow seventh-graders Zelda Siegel and Priya Kearney serve as narrators during the skit, and Sam Arkenberg depicts Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger, and Billy Graham.

The foursome purchased Nixon posters and buttons from his 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns as well as newspapers from the day of his impeachment to use in the skit.

The other Franklin entry is titled 'Isadora Duncan: Exploring the Boundaries of Dance.”

During the performance, sixth-grader Jessica Cline dances a piece of choreography and speaks about the life of the American dancer, who died in 1927 at the age of 50.

'I love dancing, and I love seeing performances,” said Cline, whose father, Rob Cline, is a correspondent for The Gazette.

She said she chose to study Isadora Duncan because 'I wanted to look into modern dance because it has inspired so many people.”

Cline said she created her costume on 'a snow day well-spent.”

Franklin Middle School last sent students to the competition in 2002 and 1988, according to the national office of National History Day.

Deb Siebenga, who oversees National History Day entries, said the national qualifiers meet every day.

'They usually have a list and have a space in my old office, and have a dry-erase board and make a list of things they need to do - refine their bibliography, polish their script, work on the set,” Siebenga said.

Research on the projects started in January, and each of the teams has an annotated bibliography with more than 100 sources, Siebenga said.

'I am so proud of these kids. They are so hardworking, and everything they have done was their own idea. It's not like I have ever helped with the beginning, middle or end - it comes right from them. I have always been their biggest cheerleader.”

Franklin isn't the only Cedar Rapids school sending students to National History Day.

Harding Middle School's Avery Hanson, C.J. Currie, Holden DeVore are in the national competition with their exhibit 'Dr. James Van Allen: Launching the United States into the Space Age.”

Harding's Abigail Green also created a website called 'The California Gold Rush: A Time of Encounter, Exploration and Exchange in American History.”

Kennedy High School had a national qualifying team in the senior group documentary category. Canaan Frese, Rizwan Sidhu and Sean Wu created a documentary called, 'James Van Allen: Pioneer.”

The teams won regional and state competitions to advance to nationals. The schools going to nationals receive financial assistance from the Cedar Rapids school district and the state of Iowa.

The Franklin students also set up a GoFundMe page that hit its $3,000 goal in 28 days.