A Record Breaking 2,700 Young Scholars Compete for the Nation's Top History Awards at 2011 National History Day on Campus of University of Maryland - College Park

A Record Breaking 2,700 Young Scholars Compete for the Nation's Top History Awards at 2011 National History Day on Campus of University of Maryland - College Park

HISTORY® HONORS OUTSTANDING YOUNG HISTORIANS ON JUNE 16

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- HISTORY and National History Day will announce the 2011 National History Day Award Winners, Thursday, June 16 at Cole Field House on the campus of the University of Maryland-College Park. HISTORY, 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 presented to an individual who has made exceptional contributions to history education through National History Day . The June 16th awards ceremony will be available via a live webcast on HISTORY's website at: www.history.com/classroom.

The national winners emerge from a field of more than half a million middle and high school students who competed at the district and state levels leading up to the finals. A record breaking 2,700 students will present their findings in the form of museum-like exhibits, multimedia documentaries, dramatic performances, web sites or research papers. A rigorous, multi-tiered selection process evaluates each project for its historical quality, clarity of presentation and how effectively it addresses this year's theme: Debate & Diplomacy: Successes, Failures, Consequences which encourages students topush past the antiquated view of history as mere facts and dates and drill down into historical content to develop perspective and understanding.

Now in its 35th year, National History Day (www.nhd.org) teaches students about history, not just about the names and dates of people and events from 200 years ago, but about the stories that happen every day in communities around the world. The year round program culminates in the national contest every June with a week-long celebration in which the awards finalists gather to show off their projects. A recent study conducted by the research firm Rockman et al, found that students who participate in the NHD program outperform their peers on state standardized tests in multiple subjects, including reading, science, math and social studies.

"HISTORY is proud to have sponsored National History Day for well over a decade. Our organizations are both committed to promoting history education as an effective way to teach critical thinking, writing and research skills that prepare students for college, career and participatory citizenship," said Dr. Libby O'Connell, SVP Corporate Outreach and Chief Historian, HISTORY. "It is not surprising to me that students who participate in the competition go on to excel in all areas of their studies. As an historian, it is exciting to see how engaging students in this rigorous history research, not only brings the past to life for them, but ignites a lifelong passion for learning."

HISTORY provides cash prizes for first place senior winners in four special NHD categories: Outstanding Entry on an International Theme, Outstanding Entry Tied to a Historic Site, Outstanding Individual Documentary and Outstanding Group Documentary. In addition, HISTORY has sponsored The Outstanding History EducatorAward for twelve years. The award is presented to participants in the National History Day program and may be a teacher, media specialist, district or state National History Day coordinator, judge or parent, who has made an outstanding contribution to history education through service to the National History Day program.

National History Day, Inc. is not just one day, but a yearlong education organization that makes history come alive through educator professional development and active student learning. 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 30,000 educators currently use National History Day curriculum materials. The program is having a profound impact on education and received the Charles Frankel Prize for Public Programming from the National Endowment for the Humanities. For additional information on NHD visit www.nhd.org.

HISTORY® and HISTORY HD® are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning original non-fiction series and event-driven specials that connect history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture. Among the network's program offerings are hit series such as American Pickers, Ax Men, The Universe, Ice Road Truckers, Top Gear,Pawn Stars and Top Shot, as well as acclaimed specials including America the Story of Us, WWII in HD, 102 Minutes That Changed America, The President's Book of Secrets and Life After People. HISTORY has earned four Peabody Awards, seven Primetime Emmy® Awards, 12 News & Documentary Emmy® Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History® campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. Take a Veteran to School Day is the network's latest initiative connecting America's schools and communities with veterans from all wars. The HISTORY website, located at www.history.com, is the leading online resource for all things history, featuring over 20,000 videos, images, audio clips, articles and interactive features that allow visitors to dig deeper into a broad range of thousands of historical topics.

SOURCE The History Channel

The History Channel

CONTACT: Randi Cone, Coterie Media, +1-646-435-0029 (o), +1-917-744-1528 (c), randi@coteriemedia.com

Web Site: http://www.History.com

-------
Profile: intent