Bedford students display National History Day projects; four advance toward state finals

Patrick Culhane, a member of the Bedford High social studies department and adviser to the school's National History Day team, opened the student presentation to the Bedford School Committee on March 26 by describing the program and thanking the committee and volunteers.

"The history fair project is our eleventh grade high honors, capstone research project," Culhane said, explaining that students may produce research papers, websites, documentaries or display exhibits and that selected entries advance through regional and state rounds.

Students then summarized their projects. Ellie Sweetland presented a website on the invention and development of radar, saying radar "was a turning point in history because it changed military strategy during the war, and it also changed how aviation in general is able to function." Julia Kayeko described a three-panel exhibit on the Battle of Lexington that used primary sources obtained through the Lexington Historical Society. Chloe Barela and Kiera Doherty presented an exhibit on the history of anesthesia and said interviews with practitioners and primary-era texts helped them clarify technical aspects of their topic. Shreyas described a group documentary on the Geneva Convention and the teamwork required to produce a film entry.

Culhane told the committee that all four students who presented that evening had advanced to the state finals, and he thanked colleagues and parent volunteers who support the program. Committee members praised the students' work and asked how the district might make projects more visible to the public; Culhane and staff said many student websites are publicly available and that the high school library and district newsletters can share links. Committee members also discussed logistics such as limitations on the number of entries set by the statewide competition and asked for plans to make student work broadly accessible.

The presentation concluded with the committee thanking the students and advisers and encouraging staff to publicize links and competition results.