Nearly 450 students, advisers and parents from across North Carolina gathered at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh for the 2018 Tar Heel Junior Historian Association’s annual convention.
The all-day event featured dynamic learning experiences that help young people appreciate and understand North Carolina’s history.
At the convention students participated in engaging workshops based on Tar Heel Junior Historian magazine topics from the past 2017-2018 school year including Blackbeard, underwater archeology and the history of North Carolina clothing. Students also had the opportunity to explore museum exhibits. The Museum of History and the Museum of History Associates co-sponsored the statewide convention.
The Awards Ceremony, an annual highlight, recognized junior historians for outstanding projects submitted in THJHA contests. The projects encourage students to research the historical significance of people, places and events in their own communities.
All winning projects are showcased for a year in the exhibit History in Every Direction: Tar Heel Junior Historian Association Discovery Gallery, featuring fun and informative hands-on history activities.
“We had a lot of great clubs attend the event this year, with groups from as far away as Asheville and Morehead City,” said Jessica Pratt, THJHA program coordinator. “The student projects covered a variety of North Carolina history topics, and I was once again blown away by their work.”
Awards are given for outstanding THJHA chapters and advisers, as well as student projects. Categories of competition include media projects, art projects, literary projects and essays, an artifact search, photography projects, and a state history quiz.
Projects encourage students to understand and appreciate our state’s heritage. Groups as well as individuals received awards.
Club members Becca Carpenter and Jordan Cooke from the Aquadale Explorers club at Aquadale Elementary School were winners in the Artifact Search Contest.