Rachel, Lexi and Kristin (left to right)

Local kids set for national history day

Seventh-grader Lexi Panopoulos had added motivation for her team’s History Day exhibit on pioneer Daniel Boone. She’s a distant relative of that famous frontiersman.

Thirteen-year-old Lexi teamed with classmates Kristin Wahl and Rachel Ampleman on a entry entitled “Daniel Boone: Wilderness Explorer.” The three-panel exhibit earned the kids a trip this month to the National History Day competition in Maryland.

They will represent St. Raphael the Archangel School, located in south St. Louis. Their teacher-advisor Christy Conner has a reputation of producing outstanding history competition entrants.

Lexi said her relationship to Daniel Boone comes from through her great-grandfather.

“His name was Brown. The Browns and the Boones were neighbors in Virginia. Both families lost their land and moved to Missouri. One of the Boones and one of the Browns got married,” she said.

Lexi and 13-year-old Kristin took a trip to Daniel Boone’s former home at Defiance, Mo. It was part of their research for their second-place Junior Group Display in the Missouri History Day competition.

First and second-place winners at state qualify for the National History Day competition June 13-17 in College Park, Md. The University of Maryland hosts the event.

All three of the girls are excited about the trip. It will be the first time for all of them to make a trip to the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area. With family members along, the kids said they plan side-trips to historic sites.

Thirteen-year-old Rachel Ampleman said, “I want to see the battlefields.” The sites of many Civil War battles, including the crucial Battle of Gettysburg, are located nearby.

Included in the Panopoulos family group will be Lexi’s grandparents, Richard and Gloria Barrett. It’s her grandmother’s family that provides the Boone connection.

The kids said they uncovered all sorts of interesting things about Daniel Boone. They did much of their research on the Internet. Their three-panel group exhibit includes lots of downloaded pictures along with historical data.

Kristin said the most interesting thing about Boone’s life was when he was captured by Indians. “While he was in captivity, he learned the language and found out about a planned attack on Fort Boonesborough, Ky.,” she said.

“He escaped and ran 160 miles in four days to warn about the attack,” she added.

Rachel Ampleman said the thing about Boone’s life she found most interesting was when he was “adopted by the Shoshoni Indians.”

Asked if she could be a frontier explorer, Rachel said, “I’d be okay. I like the woods.”

Lexi was asked what she found most interesting about her distant relation. “I liked it so much that he was a family man. He had 10 kids,” she said.

This was the second year both Lexi and Kristin have entered the History Day competition. Last year, with a third partner, the team had an exhibit, “Don Muir: Defender of the Wilderness.”

Kristin said, “We didn’t make it to state last year.”

She said, “I think our subject on Daniel Boone fit this year’s ‘exploring’ theme better.” Last year’s experience also helped the new team understand what judges were looking for. They did a better job in preparing and presenting his year’s exhibit.

Rachel said she knew the third member of Lexi and Kristin’s previous team wasn’t in school this year. She said, “We were talking about history day and I asked if I could join the team this year.” It is her first history day competition.

The team won second place in the local history day competition. They finished second to another team from St. Raphael’s. Then, after making some improvements, they finished second in the whole state at Jefferson City.

The girls said they plan to make further improvements in their entry before the nationals. Contest rules encourage entrants to keep improving between different contest levels.

Kristin said, “We’re going to add a new picture and some more quotes to our conclusion.”

Their exhibit consists of three wooden panels which is coated with fabric. The panels are joined together with the type of door hinges with removable pins. That allows the display to be dismantled for easy transport.

Also, the fabric on the panels allows for attaching parts to the exhibits with velcro strips. That means they can easily add , subtract and rearrange elements.