George Collins, director of Museum Studies, tells Mosheim Elementary School students about the "Old College" building which houses the Andrew Johnson Presidential Museum and Library. The students, Josh Deweese, Bronson Dean, Amber Shell, Bryan Sauceman, and Chris Jones (from left), will be competing in the National History Day competition in June as statewide winners. The Museum Studies program hosted a luncheon for the students on campus May 2. (Tusculum College photo)

Among those attending the luncheon were: (front row from left) Mosheim teacher Loretta Couch; Josh Deweese, Bryan Sauceman, Amber Shell, Bronson Dean, and Chris Jones; Lillian Taylor, president of the Andrew Johnson Memorial Association; Mosheim Principal Yhona Jones; and (in the back row) Tusculum College President Dolph Henry, left, and Mosheim teacher Doug Lafollette. (Tusculum College photo)

Tusculum hosts Mosheim students who will compete in national history competition

 

Five Mosheim Elementary School students who will be traveling next month to compete in a national history competition were hosted for a luncheon on May 2 by the Tusculum College Museum Studies program.

The Mosheim students -Bronson Dean, Josh Deweese, Chris Jones, Bryan Sauceman, and Amber Shell - shared their experiences in competing on the regional and state level with Tusculum President Dolph Henry and members of the Tusculum Museum Studies staff during the luncheon.

The eighth grade students won the regional and state level National History Day competitions in the performance category with their play, "A Family Divided," about the American Revolution. They have advanced to the national competition to be held June 9-13 at the University of Maryland. [Note: The Mosheim Elementary School students finished 23rd among the 83 groups that competed in their category at the national competition.]

 

Accompanying the students to Tusculum were Mosheim teachers Doug Lafollette and Loretta Couch, who have assisted the students as they have prepared and competed in the regional and statewide events, as well as Mosheim Principal Yhona Jones.

The Museum Studies program at Tusculum helped sponsor and coordinate National History Day activities in February at Mosheim along with the Andrew Johnson Memorial Association. The program has also provided assistance to Mosheim as its students have advanced through the National History Day competitions. George Collins, director of museum programs and studies at Tusculum, served as the district coordinator of National History Day for Northeast Tennessee this year.

This year's theme for National History Day was "Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History." Students could choose to focus on local, state, national, or international topics for their exhibits or performances. The Mosheim students' chose to create their play, "A Family Divided," to describe how families and friends were split by their loyalties to the colonies or England during the American Revolutionary War.

 

The students researched their topic, using many sources including the Internet and numerous books, and then wrote a script for their play that has both costumes and props reflecting America in the 1770s.

 

Also competing at the state level from Mosheim were Hayley Neeley in the Individual Exhibit category; and Tabatha Pitts in the Historical Paper category. Both won first places in those categories in the regional competition.

This was the first year the National History Day program has been held in Greene County, and the Museum Studies Program hopes that it can work with teachers and administrators in other schools to expand activities in the future.

 

National History Day is a twenty-five year old national program designed to foster improvement in the teaching and learning of history in elementary and secondary schools. The program helps students learn to research topics and express what they have learned through creative and original performances, documentaries, papers, and exhibits. The year-around curriculum based program is growing in Tennessee and relatively new in East Tennessee.

 

For more information about National History Day or the Department of Museum Studies at Tusculum College, contact George Collins, Director of Museum Studies, Box 5026, Greeneville, TN 37743, or e-mail: gcollins@tusculum.edu.