Newport students make their own history
It was the final round and Jean Wanlass, a sixth-grader at Harbor Day School in Newport Beach, pressed the red buzzer in front of her.
“Iroquois nation,” Jean said. The 12-year-old was responding to a clue read aloud by the contest moderator: “This group called itself the people of the longhouse.”
“That answer is correct,” the moderator responded.
Jean was among the nearly 60 elementary- and middle-school students who competed in the Los Angeles Regional History Bee at Harbor Day on Monday night. In a series of four rounds, students were pitted against roughly five to 10 opponents and vied to answer the most questions correctly and quickly.
The questions ran the historical gamut: This city was home to the Hull House (Chicago). This man’s speech included “history will absolve me” (Fidel Castro). This president’s adminstration was tarnished by the Teapot Dome scandal (Warren Harding).
Now Jean and 22 other top-scoring students advance to the National History Bee, which will be held in Louisville, Ky., in May.
Jean said she prepped for the competition using a six-inch stack of flash cards. The 12-year-old also took history quizzes online.
“My brother really wanted me to win because he wants to go to Louisville,” Jean said. “There’s some baseball thing there.”
Last year, Jean also reached the national contest, placing 27th in the nation.
When asked about the secret to her repeat wins, her brother chimed in: “Me!”
Students qualified for the competition through an online test they took about three week ago, Harbor Day history teacher Jon Grogan said. This is the second year that the school has hosted the regional event, which Grogan believes encourages students’ interest in history.
“Anything you can bring in with the humanities to get students interested is beneficial,” Grogan said.
Ben Miller, a Harbor Day seventh-grader, also racked up enough points to go on to the national competition in the middle-school division.
Jacqueline McNeill, a sixth-grader at Harbor Day, won’t be heading to the national match-up, but her mother, Juliana, said just getting to regionals was unexpected. She said Jacqueline doesn’t consider history her favorite subject.
“She just likes reading historical fiction for fun,” her mother said.