Fairfield Students Delve Into The Past For Connecticut History Day Projects

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — After months of research, hard work and anticipation, more than 400 middle and high school students unfolded their Connecticut History Day projects at the annual Regional Contest held Saturday at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.

Lizzy Lynch (left) and Kate Williams of Wilton High School with their project "60's TV Debates."
Photo Credit: *Skip Pearlman*

Judges check out the history projects Saturday at Sacred Heart University.
Photo Credit: *Skip Pearlman*

Victoria Greenwald (left) and Judy Nemchek of Fairfield Woods Middle School show off their project.
Photo Credit: *Skip Pearlman*

From left: Sarah Sherts, Bianca Lotti and Monique Ostbye of Staples Hight School in Westport present their project.
Photo Credit: *Skip Pearlman*

Students present Senior Student Website projects in front of the judges.
Photo Credit: *Skip Pearlman*

Students present projects in front of fellow students and judges.
Photo Credit: *Skip Pearlman*

Lena Kufferman of Fairfield shows off her project 'The DNA Encounter.'
Photo Credit: *Skip Pearlman*

Skip Pearlman

03/21/2016 5:30 a.m.

Throughout the morning, students from Danbury, Fairfield, Greenwich, Shelton, Southbury, Stamford, Trumbull, Redding, Stratford, Weston, Westport and Wilton presented their projects to teams of volunteer judges, who determined which students will move on to the Connecticut History Day State Contest in April.

Those students were revealed and honored at an awards ceremony. State Reps. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, Brenda Kupchick and Laura Devlin were on hand to assist with the presentation of awards and to congratulate the students.

Students based their projects on a historical topic of their own choosing, but it must connect to the 2016 National History Day theme of Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History. Through Connecticut History Day, students in grades 6 to 12 are able to learn critical thinking, problem solving, research and presentation skills, while also developing a sense of responsibility for involvement in the democratic process.

Tony Andrade, a retired Fairfield County educator, is the Fairfield regional coordinator.

The Connecticut History Day Fairfield Regional Contest is one of six regional contests in the state, which are held in February and March.

Students placing in the top three spots in each category will move on to the CHD State Contest taking place on April 30 at Central Connecticut State University. The names of winning students from each regional contest will be posted to the CHD website at historydayct.org.

Connecticut History Day is led by Connecticut’s Old State House in downtown Hartford, with support from the Connecticut League of History Organizations and Connecticut Humanities’ website, ConnecticutHistory.org. Major funding is provided by Connecticut Humanities.

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