History Day entries reach all-time high

The number of entries was 30 percent higher than last year, according to Sarah Polak, judging coordinator and director of the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center. 

Students in the contest, which has been hosted at CSC for nine years, ranged from sixth to twelfth grades and represented Chadron, Crawford, Ainsworth, Oshkosh and Sioux County schools.

Competition included categories in websites, displays, performances and documentaries. The top three contestants in each age division of each category will advance to the state contest April 11 in Lincoln.

Shari Sorensen, Nebraska event coordinator for National History Day, was in attendance, the first time a state coordinator has visited the Chadron event.

Vanessa Taylor, a sophomore at Ainsworth Community School competed. She has attended the contest since she was in sixth grade and only missed one year at CSC, due to winter weather.

Taylor and her teacher, Nichole Flynn, are among student and teacher teams from 13 states and Guam selected in January to participate in the 2015 Normandy: Sacrifice for Freedom Albert H. Small Student and Teacher Institute in France in June.

—CSC College Relations