School board honors History Day champions

From left to right: Buahanan students Matthew Clark, Sydney Fox and Allison Hodge were honored for their History Day accomplishments at last Wednesday’s CUSD board meeting. (Photo by Valerie Shelton/Clovis Roundup)

From left to right: Buahanan students Matthew Clark, Sydney Fox and Allison Hodge were honored for their History Day accomplishments at last Wednesday’s CUSD board meeting. (Photo by Valerie Shelton/Clovis Roundup)

Buchanan High School students Allison Hodge, Matthew Clark and Sydney Fox, received special recognition at the Aug. 30 Clovis Unified School Board meeting.

The talented trio was honored for winning not only at the 2017 state regional competition for History Day, but for taking first place at Nationals in Maryland in July.

Superintendent Dr. Eimear O’Farrell called the big win “an exciting and unprecedented win.”

Robyn Castillo, the Assistant Superintendent for the Buchanan area, said she was proud of the three exceptional students, who are all involved in a myriad of campus activities in addition to being high academic achievers.

“Aside from earning this award, Alison Hodge is also a varsity athlete in water polo and swimming, an AVID tutor and Youth Corps volunteer and she just received the longevity award at state History Day last year,” Castillo said. “Matt Clark is also involved in science Olympiad, is the vice president of the environmental club, is involved in youth sports, is a volunteer at the Chaffee Zoo and he was also invited to attend Boys State this summer. And Sydney Fox is a varsity athlete in cross country and track, she is senior class vice president, a member of CASA and student senate, and she also plays piano, dances and performs in BHS drama productions. All three students have a GPA above a 4.0 and we’re very proud of all of their accomplishments.

“It’s a lot of hard work and before the board meeting they were already brainstorming their next topic for this upcoming year so we’re looking forward to seeing them continue with their great career in history day.”

The theme for the 2017 History Day competition was “Take a Stand” and the Buchanan team conducted research and created a 10-minute performance titled “Solidarity: The Polish People Take a Stand for Freedom” about the Polish labor rights solidarity movement which began in the Lenin Shipyard in 1980. The performance took first place at the regional state competition, which qualified them for nationals at the University of Maryland, where they earned first place in the senior group performance category. The first place national awards came with a $1,000 prize. In addition, the team also won a special award, the History of Poland award, and at the end of September they will be accompanying the executive director of National History Day, Cathy Gorn, on a trip to Poland.

Valerie Shelton:
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