National History Day

Tim Hoogland, the Director of Education Outreach Programs at the Minnesota Historical Society, shared this very sad news about the passing of Laura Zeccardi, History Day Library Coordinator.  Many of you may have known of Laura as Southeastern Minnesota was a part of the state that she worked with as part of her duties at MHS.  Laura grew up in Chatfield.  We at SELCO are shocked and saddened by her sudden passing as her enthusiasm for History Day was infectious.  Tim can be reached at tim.hoogland@mnhs.org

We are sad to report the sudden passing of History Day Outreach Specialist, Laura Zeccardi.  Over the past five days, University of Minnesota physicians discovered that Laura had an undetected bone tumor that ultimately triggered a blood clot into her lungs.  Laura died peacefully early Sunday morning at the U of M hospital while she was being comforted by her family.

Although many of you have met Laura, I don't think that her background as a History Day student was widely shared.  Laura grew up in Chatfield, Minnesota, and began participating in History Day as a 6th grader.  She is one of the few students who participated in the program in every year she was eligible and went on to represent Minnesota at the national competition multiple times.  As a student at Macalester College, Laura served as a History Day intern and eventually joined the MHS Education staff after completing graduate school at NYU.

Laura excelled at providing classroom support to students and teachers and truly enjoyed the challenge of coordinating the expansion of student research support services at public and university libraries.  Through our partnership with CRPLSA thousands of students have benefited from her dedication to share the love of learning that she experienced through History Day.  She was extremely proud of the way that our statewide services were expanding to meet the needs of students, and her evaluation data shows that our hopes for the partnership were being met:  Kids were using more books, their interest in using libraries was growing, and their research skills were improving.  Whether it was through her classroom lessons, library field trips or hullabaloo events, Laura was making a difference in the academic achievement of Minnesota students.  A fitting testament was when  Laura's father shared with me that her work at MHS brought her tremendous joy as she "was doing the work she was born to do."

A celebration of Laura's life is being planned for Sunday, March 3rd, in Chatfield.  We are working with her parents on the establishment of a memorial fund at the Minnesota Historical Society.

Please share this note with any of your staff who have worked with Laura and thank you all for making this partnership possible.  If you have any messages that you would like to share with her parents, contact me via e-mail and I will pass them along.

Greetings!  Interested in becoming a History Day judge?!  When you volunteer to be a judge, everybody wins!  History Day helps students develop real-world skills and abilities, and gives judges the opportunity to make a lasting impact on young lives.  The Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) welcomes volunteers interested in education, history and helping students.  The time commitment can be as little as one five-hour event in March or May.  Some responsibilities include:

• Attending a judges' orientation prior to your registered event
• Review, with your partner, student projects in your assigned judging set
• As a team, select the strongest projects to advance to the next level of competition
• Individually, provide written feedback to every student project evaluated
• Arrive on time and stay until all your comments are completed

The regional contest in Southeastern Minnesota will be held at Winona State University on March 13, 2013.  Judging at a Regional event or State History Day gives people an insider's view of the program.  You'll have the chance to hear about student experiences, see projects and learn more about the impact of History Day.  All judges work in teams and receive training at each event.  Click HERE for a full list of dates, event locations and to register as a judge.  Over 700 judges are needed to continue Minnesota's strong History Day tradition.  Please contact Laura Zeccardi at 651-259-3439 for more information.

The first annual History Day Hullabaloo at the Northfield Public Library, held on Saturday, January 12 from 10 a.m. to noon, was a huge success!  92 students attended the session to receive History Day help from over 20 community volunteers and Northfield Public Library staff.  Click HERE to read the Northfield News article highlighting the event.  Congrats, Northfield Public Library! 

Greetings! History Day preparations are in full gear around the SELCO region! Three History Day Hullabaloos are coming up in 2013 -- two at Rochester Public Library and one at Northfield Public Library. This is a great opportunity for History Day students around the region to locate some primary sources and to get help from volunteers.

Can't make it to the Hullabaloos?  Rochester Public Library has created a resource page listing some great primary sources.  Click HERE to see that page.  Another great resource is the Electronic Library of Minnesota (ELM) database portal HERE.  For more information about History Day in Minnesota, please click HERE.  Hope to see you there!

This project was funded in part or in whole with money from Minnesota's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

This is a reminder!  Please join us for a History Day Tour at the Winona County Historical Society on Thursday, January 10, 2013, 4-7 p.m.!   Learn about History Day in Minnesota, what students will gain from participation, multiple research resources and support systems from area libraries, the Minnesota Historical Society and the Winona County Historical Society, and more! Participants will also receive a tour of the Winona County History Center and Archives.  To register for the tour and to sign up for the carpool, please email Mollie Stanford at mstanford@selco.info.  Please register by Tuesday, January 8, 2013.  For more History Day related information and upcoming History Day Hullabaloo dates, please click HERE.  Questions?  Just let us know!

Greetings!  Please join us for a History Day Tour at the Winona County Historical Society on Thursday, January 10, 2013, 4-7 p.m.!   Learn about History Day in Minnesota, what students will gain from participation, multiple research resources and support systems from area libraries, the Minnesota Historical Society and the Winona County Historical Society, and more! Participants will also receive a tour of the Winona County History Center and Archives.

SELCO staff will be participating and carpooling is available.  We'll be leaving the SELCO office in Rochester at 2:45 p.m. and attendees should plan on returning to the SELCO office at 8 p.m.

To register for the tour and to sign up for the carpool, please email Mollie Stanford at mstanford@selco.info.  Please register by Tuesday, January 8, 2013.  Click HERE for the event flyer.  For more History Day related information and upcoming History Day Hullabaloo dates, please click HERE.  Questions?  Just let us know! 

Good afternoon!  Due to low attendance, the tour of the History Center of Olmsted County tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. will be rescheduled to accommodate more interested participants. Please keep your eyes out in the next few weeks with registration information!  The morning History Day workshop is still on!  Thanks!

Greetings!  SELCO is pleased to announce our day dedicated to History Day on Thursday, October 25, 2012.  In the morning, we'll be hosting a History Day Workshop (click here for more info).  In the afternoon, continuing the focus on the 2013 theme, Turning Points in History: People, Ideas, Events, the History Center of Olmsted County will be hosting a “behind-the-scenes” on-site tour at 2:30 p.m. (following the History Day workshop). The tour will highlight the 3-D storage area where almost 1 million items are housed, the archival information in the History Center’s library, and a few special scrapbooks and diaries that would be great primary resources for students focusing on local history. If you are interested in participating in the tour, please email Mollie Stanford (mstanford@selco.info). SELCO staff will be attending and taking a van, so if you are interested in carpooling, please include that in your RSVP email. 

Also, keep your eyes peeled for future tours focusing on History Day research!  We are in the midst of planning two more tours to regional SELS Member sites so teachers, media center staff, public library staff and anyone else interested in History Day can view unique resources.  For more information regarding regional History Day planning, please visit the SELCO History Day page HERE.  Questions?  Give us a call!  Hope to see you at the History Center of Olmsted County!

Greetings!  SELCO is pleased to host a morning dedicated to History Day on Thursday, October 25, 2012 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the SELCO Headquarters.  During this session, History Day staff from the Minnesota Historical Society will present ways to promote library use by History Day students, Minitex staff will highlight the ELM databases students can access for History Day research, and Rochester Public Library staff will present information on unique primary resources at the library and History Day Hullabaloo activities.  Become familiar with what National History Day is, the 2013 theme, Turning Points in History: People, Ideas, Events, and the resources you can promote to History Day middle and high school students.  This training session is for public library staff, school library staff and anyone interested in becoming involved with National History Day. 

To register for the workshop and view the morning agenda, please click HERE or give us a call at 1-800-992-5061.  Please register by Tuesday, October 23, 2012.  If you have any questions, please let me know.  This workshop is free to all participants.  A great chance to earn CEU’s!  Certificates will be distributed following the workshop.  Hope to see you there!

Greetings!  Looking for volunteers!  The Rochester Public Library will be hosting History Day Hullabaloos on Saturday, January 12, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Thursday, January 17, 2013 from 4-8 p.m. Hullabaloos are a chance for students participating in History Day to gather information from primary resources at the library.  We are looking for volunteers to help students with their research on this year’s theme, Turning Points in History: People, Ideas Events.  A small honorarium will awarded to volunteers for their participation.  If you are interested in volunteering your expert reference services for one or both days, please contact Susan Hansen at susan@rochester.lib.mn.us.  For more information on History Day, please click here.  Thanks in advance!