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COURTESY OF CHRISTINE NIP Christine Nip, Megan Tomino and Melissa Ruan stand in front of their display on Depression-era photographer Dorothea Lange. The trio's project earned first-place honors at the National History Day competition in Maryland.

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Historic victory

Analytical skills help three girls
win a national exhibit contest

In a culture full of flash and glitz, it's reassuring to know that simple black-and-white photos can still captivate. At the National History Day competition, juniors Megan Tomino, Melissa Ruan and Christine Nip won first place and $1,000 with their exhibit on Dorothea Lange's Depression-era photography.

Moanalua High School Motto Na Hoku O Moanalua Faculty Adviser Liane Voss Editor Christine Perez Address 2825 Ala Ilima St., Honolulu, HI 96813 Principal Darrel Galera Enrollment 2,100 Colors Royal blue and white Mascot Na Menehune Web site MoHS.k12.hi.us

Moanalua High School is a three-time defending state champion in the senior group exhibit, but this is the first time in the school's history where a project took first place nationally.

"I was astonished," said Tomino.

The competition, which takes place at the University of Maryland every summer, gives students a chance to demonstrate their knowledge on history through display boards, research papers, documentaries -- even live performances.

Robert Buss, the executive director of the Hawaii Council for the Humanities, said that History Day "gives students the thinking skills to analyze information and apply it to today."

The contest brings in more than 75,000 participants from all over the country, from intermediate students to seniors in high school. They compete in their respective districts, then move on to the state level. About 20 to 40 entries from each state advance to the national competition in Maryland.

"The students are very competitive," Buss said.

The three girls began their project individually as a required assignment for their sophomore U.S. history class. They all liked the topic of Dorothea Lange because they felt her work was easy to apply to the topic of communication. The pictures caught their interest, too.

This was followed by extensive research, where they were required to find secondary and primary sources to put together in a final paper.

The girls agree writing the paper was the hardest part. But after the paper was written, the girls formed a group based on their similar theses and created a collaborative display board.

Their biggest challenges were finding primary sources, getting interviews and writing the narrative for the board.

"We rewrote our thesis five times," Tomino said.

Doing it once was not enough, either. Each time they advanced to the next level, they had to redo their board and make changes. By the time they got to the national competition, they had redone their board three times.

"We spent a lot of time at Kinko's," Tomino joked.

Upon arrival at the national contest, the girls were taken aback by the competition.

"You see everyone else's projects with their big, swiveling props," Tomino said. "Ours was just this depressing board."

But the girls' simple, black-and-white display garnered them a top medal against 84 others in their category.

Kevin Chaitin, the girls' U.S. history teacher, was confident the girls would go far: "They had a good thesis. They were able to prove it while also using wonderful, very emotional pictures."

Buss added, "Not only did they show change, but they went beyond that -- they demonstrated an idea using a sophisticated argument through their photos.

"There were lots of other projects on the same topic, but they were all rather descriptive. The girls' entry was one of the few that showed analysis."

The girls agreed that their favorite part of the experience was the time spent on their trip to Maryland. Staying right next to the nation's capital, they got to see monuments, museums, and even attend a dinner theater.

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Digital conference
brings global links

The time is midnight and there is a commotion at Moanalua High School. The freshmen class of Moanalua's Media and Communications program (MeneMAC) is willingly in school early this day, the first day of the fourth quarter's exam week, to participate in the international MegaConference Junior 2005.

This wasn't a traditional conference but rather a digital one, taking advantage of videoconferencing technology and the Internet to bring together people from four different continents. The conference featured countries from the United States to Taiwan and Africa.

Overall, 200 schools logged in live to witness student presentations over their respective videoconferencing units. It gave elementary and middle school students the chance to learn about many different subjects covered that day.

Interactive presentations covered topics like the Australian environment, human rights, African poetry and art, and U.S. constitutional amendments.

"I have a better understanding of differences among groups and how we are alike in who we are," said sophomore Sharlene Whang, a participant in the conference. "We got to know other people that aren't from Hawaii and don't have the same personality."

This is the second year that Moanalua High School has participated. For their presentation, teachers Lynne Sueoka, Theresa Nishite and Erik Yamamoto joined their students to do a presentation on media, aptly titled "Media and Me."

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COURTESY OF MOANALUA HIGH SCHOOL Chelsey Nabor, left, Sarah Bartolome and Sharlene Whang were among the participants in MegaConference Junior 2005.

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The road to the big day was a major part of the students' work schedule for the end of the year. Months before, they participated in a series of videoconferences with Osaka Gakuin University in Japan. They interacted with one another through television screens and got to know each other as well as how it was like to live in their respective countries.

Through this project, the freshmen prepared themselves for MegaConference Junior by getting familiar with the equipment and how to conduct themselves while communicating with people across the globe.

Students first put on a media-based "fashion show," showing how technology and media affect our everyday lives and style here in Hawaii. Secondly, they gave presentations on their experiences with the students in Osaka, Japan. They then played an interactive, ice-breaker game, "gimme gimme," which proved to be a favorite with both presenters and students.

They wrapped up the presentation with an interactive discussion based on current events and media ethics.

In all, it was a refreshing experience for all the participants in MegaConference Junior 2005. Along with their getting their grades and a pat on the back for a job well done, they also gained valuable experience for the future.

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What was your most outrageous
school assignment?

Malia Seward
Senior
"Build a castle out of sugar cubes."

Joey Percoco
Junior
"Catch our own fish then dissect it."

Kacey Ridgeway
Junior
"Describe how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

Grace Mcatee
Junior
"Choreograph a dance using playground equipment."

Young Sub Suh
Senior
"Sniffing fruits, blindfolded."

Janelle Hiu
Senior
"Interpretive dance for English."

Joshua Roberts
Senior
"My teacher made me baby-sit her kids."

Sabrina Stanford
Junior
"Cook an egg on the side of the sidewalk."

Bianca Nenninger
Sophomore
"We had chicken fingers and we had to make the fingers move by pulling the tendons."