The History Channel(R) Offers Live Worldwide Webcast Featuring National History Day Awards Ceremony

The History Channel(R) Offers Live Worldwide Webcast Featuring National History Day Awards Ceremony

Middle and High School Students Compete for National Awards Exploring this Year's Theme: Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas, Events

New York, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The History Channel(R) will offer a live webcast to give families, friends, and schools in the U.S. and around the world the opportunity to watch as middle and high school students "go for the gold" at the National History Day Awards Ceremony on Thursday, June 15th at the University of Maryland in College Park.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051031/HISTORYLOGO )

The History Channel Web site will showcase the Awards Ceremony of National History Day national contest during a LIVE Webcast at http://www.history.com/classroom on Thursday, June 15 from 8:30 am to 12:30 p.m. ET/PT.

National History Day, Inc. is a nonprofit education program that presents an annual national history contest. Students present the findings of in-depth historical research in the form of documentaries, performances, exhibits, and papers and are judged by a panel of experts.

The History Channel, a leading sponsor of National History Day, provides $20,000 in cash prizes to four winning senior student projects as well as the Outstanding History Educator Award to a teacher who has made exceptional contributions to history education.

This year's theme of "Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas, Events" has inspired projects exploring the spectrum of historical figures and events. Students, from across the nation, have conducted in-depth research on topics such as the Colorado River War, the Women's Suffragists Movement, the Tiananmen Square uprising in China, and the Scottish War for Independence. Students have explored pivotal moments in the lives of notable historical figures such as Joan of Arc, Mahatma Ghandi, Dr. Alfred Kinsey, Thurgood Marshall, and Marion Anderson. Each year's theme is broad enough to encourage investigation of topics from local to world history and from ancient times to the recent past.

"The National History Day projects explore events with local, national and international implications, so it is appropriate that the awards ceremony be available globally through our ability to communicate by Webcast," said Dr. Libby O'Connell, Chief Historian, The History Channel. "We salute all of this year's national finalists and their teachers for their dedication, impressive work and love of history."

The goal of National History Day, Inc. is to promote the study of history by engaging students in the excitement of historic inquiry and creative presentation. Through publications and education programs, National History Day trains teachers to move students beyond textbooks and expand their classrooms to include libraries, museums and archives. Nationwide 40,000 currently use NHD curriculum materials. The National History Day program received the Charles Frankel Prize for Public Programming and collaborated with the National Archives to create "Our Documents," a national initiative on American history, civics, and service. More information is available at http://www.nhd.org/.

The History Channel(R) is one of the leading cable television networks featuring compelling original, non-fiction specials and series that bring history to life in a powerful and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. The network provides an inviting place where people experience history in new and exciting ways enabling them to connect their lives today to the great lives and events of the past that provide a blueprint for the future. The History Channel has earned three Peabody Awards, six News and Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History(R) campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel reaches more than 89 million Nielsen subscribers. The website is located at www.History.com.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051031/HISTORYLOGO
Source: The History Channel

CONTACT: Chuck Wentzel, For The History Channel, +1-201-362-6183,
Chuckw07030@aol.com; or Mark Robinson, For National History Day,
+1-301-314-9542, mark@nhd.org

Web site: http://www.history.com/
http://www.nhd.org/
http://www.history.com/classroom

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