Sequoia Middle School National History Day finalists
Share thoughts regarding the NHD competition:
Ariana Robles said, “Thank you Porterville Education Foundation for allowing us to
represent Tulare County at the state NHD by donating $350 for our entry fees to the
competition. Because of your donation, I got to experience higher level competition and enjoyed
seeing other competitors and learning about their topics.”
Tina Williford said, “As an NHD rookie coach, I appreciate the support of PEF in helping
to provide opportunities for students to compete at a higher level. As a teacher, I learned a
great deal about the process and products by watching other competitors. I will use this new
knowledge to support my students next year in the NHD competition.”
Albert Munoz a said, “Traveling to Tulare
and Rocklin to present our documentary about
Muhammad Ali was the best part of NHD.
Watching students’ projects from other cities
and counties helped me learn about other
famous people in history who took a stand.”
Francisco Ruan said, “My favorite part
was presenting our own Ali documentary and
seeing the others that taught how different
people took different stands. I appreciate you
funding our trip.”
Ryan Rusch said, “I appreciate the monetary support
and the encouragement that helped get through this
project. Seeing different documentaries, exhibits and
websites about my topic helped expand my understanding.”
Yasoda Satpathy said, “I appreciated being able to
see another exhibit board on the same topic as my
documentary that had a different perspective. I didn’t
agree, but it made me think. I’m glad you helped us develop our knowledge of history.”
Nevaeh McCoy said, “The cool part of NHD was moving on to state and seeing all the
other kids compete. I learned that if you do a performance it’s important to get into character
by using your costume to bring the person and time period to life.”
John Felix said, “I enjoyed learning about Amelia Earhart and what she did to break
women’s stereotypes. Thank you for helping to send us to the state competition to learn about
other historical leaders.”
Katie Angle said, “Thank you for allowing us to experience NHD at the state level by
helping to fund our trip because it taught me that with time, determination and effort you can
accomplish anything. The character I portrayed in the play we wrote, Amelia Earhart Took
Flight, said a similar quote, but I got to live it.”
Kristi McCracken said, “Thousands of students advanced to state level, but Sequoia’s four
projects were competitive even with the high school entries. Hearing the judges praise our
students was icing on the cake after witnessing all the thinking and refinement that went into
researching primary sources and creating extensive bibliographies, process papers and products
that taught others about what they’d learned. Your support of these types of learning
endeavors are greatly appreciate. These students will remember this event for years to come.”