Regional History Day

St. Raphael kids seek edge in competition

Sixth-grader Josie Ruggeri decided to profile a little-known civil rights figure for her regional History Day performance. She thought that might give her an edge with the judges.

Josie Ruggeri

Seventh-graders Rachel Indelicato and Jane Fitzsimmons picked a well-known figure as a subject for their History Day documentary. But, they added some unusual personal interviews to catch the eye of judges.

Both approaches worked for the St. Raphael the Archangel School students.

Rachel Indelicato (l) and Jane Fitzsimmons

So did a more conventional approach by St. Raphael sixth-graders Rachel McMahon and Jane Shepherd in the junior group exhibit division.

The kids brought home first place rankings during the regional competition in late February at University of Missouri-St. Louis. St. Raphael was the only St. Louis area school to take home three first-place trophies.

Wydown Middle School and Holy Infant School each earned two first-place rankings.

The regional winners will be in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday, April 8, for the State History Day competition. Winners there can advance to the nationals.

Eleven-year-old Josie made her junior individual performance a profile of Barbara Henry, a Boston schoolteacher.

Ms. Henry was a minor figure in the civil rights turmoil of the 1960s. She was called to New Orleans to teach what was supposed to be an integrated class in the New Orleans school system.

But, when a six-year-old African-American kid, named Ruby Bridges, showed up for class, Ms. Henry ended up with one student. The parents of all the white students withdrew their children.

The story did have a happy ending. By the end of the school year, many of the white kids were back in school and Ms. Henry's class was larger-and integrated.

Josie said, "Rather than picking some obvious figure to profile, I picked a teacher no one had heard about." The 6th grader said she remembered seeing a movie two years ago about the Barbara Henry-Ruby Bridges situation.

She said it seemed to be a good topic for her first History Day entry. She was right.

Rachel McMahon (l) and Jane Shepherd

For 13-year-old Rachel and 12-year-old Jane, their documentary subject was Dorothea Dix.

She's credited as being a front-runner in the treatment of mental illness in the U.S. And she has been a regular subject for History Day presentations.

They decided to do more than include historic facts about Ms. Dix's life.

Rachel said, "Both of us have grandparents in the mental health field." So the girls arranged for a video interview session with Jane's grandmother. They also interviewed a mental health worker at the St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center on Arsenal.

In making the documentary, the girls did their editing on software on Jane's computer at home.

Their 10-minute documentary included comparative information about treatments used in Dorthea Dix's time and the present day. Rachel said, "Treatments today are way better."

The girls said availability of many more medicines helps present-day treatments.

Rachel McMahon and Jane Shepherd said they decided on the former slave Dred Scott as the subject for their junior group exhibit. Jane said, "We considered some others but picked Scott because he lived in St. Louis and his two trials were here."

Rachel said their exhibit included more than just information about Dred Scott. "We included more about the Missouri Compromise," she said. That congressional action involved bringing into the Union two states-one free and one slave-to keep a balance before the Civil War.

All the kids used time between the regional and state contests to strengthen their entries.

Josie said she's working on being more forceful in her oral presentation. "I'm working on being louder and showing more enthusiasm," she said.

Jane Fitzsimmons said one of the regional judges had suggested they should add more about past history of mental health. Also, Rachel Indelicato said, "We're going to make the closing documentary credits more readable."

Jane Shepherd said she and Rachel McMahon are going to make their exhibit larger and include more information about Dred Scott. Their regional exhibit was made of cardboard. But, they are switching to a wooden exhibit board.