Josie’s big adventure with National History Day reached its conclusion this week.
In April, she won first place in Missouri for individual performance, earning a spot in the national competition in Washington, D.C.
We’re grateful for the financial support of the Ferguson-Florissant School District — plus around $7,000 donated by many friends, family, and other supporters, which made it possible for Josie, as well as her classmates Zaria, Mina, Vanessa, and Sarah, to represent their state.
Josie and I flew from St. Louis to D.C. on Sunday, then made our way by train to University of Maryland — College Park campus, where we stayed for several more days.
We participated in the opening ceremony with more than 3,000 other students. It was really cool to meet so many kids from all over, and see the amazing, creative projects they’ve done.
Josie performed her script about the Lincoln-Douglas Debates on Monday morning and did very well. I was especially proud of her knowledge and unflappability during judges’ questions. Here’s a video:
Afterward, she was interviewed by a lady from the Missouri State Historical Society for their newsletter.
Eventually we learned that she did not advance to the finals — but the week was far from over. We spent the rest of Monday and Tuesday in D.C. proper, visiting various cool sites. Since our family has been to D.C. before, Josie had seen some of these before, but we still managed to have a few firsts, like visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Holocaust Museum, or the World War II Memorial.
Throughout the week, Josie loved some aspects of dorm life, especially the dining hall. It was an enormous space with a seemingly infinite array of foods to choose from.
She got one other memorable experience the final night we were there. Both Josie and I were in dreamland, when suddenly fire alarms went off in our dorm. We (and herds of other middle schoolers) had to evacuate the building and wait outside until we got the all-clear to return.
The main bummer was Josie’s feet. She was wearing her period dress shoes all day Monday, and ended up getting blisters on her feet, which made it somewhat miserable trudging across D.C. on Tuesday.
Still, the pain will fade away eventually, and hopefully the memories of an amazing week will remain.
What a fun time and experience!