Nashoba Regional High School Social Studies students shared their learning this week during the annual National History Day showcase held in the Nashoba Regional High School Media Center. The showcase celebrated the quarter-long research project that had students diving deep into a historical topic of their choice that fit into the theme of Rights and Responsibilities in History.
Students conducted extensive research through primary and secondary sources. They then presented a thesis statement, evidence and conclusions through papers, exhibits, performances, documentaries, or websites. Through this process, students continued their work to develop skills that relate to the core Portrait of a Nashoba Graduate competencies of communication, creativity, empathy, perseverance, learner’s mindset, and culturally competent global citizenship. Nashoba Regional High School students have participated in the competition for nearly two decades. For more information about this year’s theme, visit the National History Day website.
The theme of Rights and Responsibilities was one that our adolescent students, not surprisingly, found very relevant to their lives and interests as they themselves gain both rights and responsibilities during their high school years! After considering what rights and responsibilities mean today and historically, students explored and then selected a topic of their choice. Students collaborated or worked independently, conducting extensive research, outlining the project, writing an annotated bibliography and producing a product to showcase their knowledge. NRHS students created interactive exhibits, featuring text, images, video, and objects. Other students created websites and wrote research papers.
The wide array of topics presented by NRHS students included everything from driving laws, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, dress codes, pay equity, Covid-19, and Supreme Court decisions such as Tinker vs. Des Moines. The wide variety of topics and products demonstrated an impressive array of student knowledge about what constitutes a right and a responsibility and what that means in a free society.