Fifteen entries from Northwood’s National History Day team qualified for the California State Finals after a successful performance at the Orange County District Tournament on March 9.

NHD is a historical research competition that centers around an annual theme. This year’s theme is “Turning Points in History.” Participants chose between seven contest categories to present their research in: documentary, exhibit, performance, website, paper, poster or podcast. Northwood’s projects varied greatly from entry to entry in both the mediums and content, ranging from an exhibit on Operation Paperclip to a podcast about McDonald’s.

“Doing NHD this year was actually really fun,” sophomore Lauren Low said. “We were able to see so many other exhibits, and going on a deep dive into a topic you’re passionate about is always great.”

Due to the extensive nature of the projects, preparation for NHD starts months before the actual contest date. Most of Northwood’s qualifying entries started their projects during the summer or at the beginning of the school year in order to address all the necessary aspects of their project.

NHD allows students to gain a deeper understanding of a historical topic of their choice while developing important research skills. Projects are extremely comprehensive, with most entries using information from more than 50 sources.

“NHD has definitely helped my research and writing skills,” freshman Audrey Nguyen said. “Being able to write without bias is really helpful. It’s good to be able to analyze these really tough sources and see things from different perspectives.”

Being part of Northwood’s NHD club and its community drastically helped the entries. Besides having the support of other students, the newly implemented leadership structure, where students were interviewed and assigned as leaders of each category, meant that students always have an experienced person to ask questions to and to receive feedback from.

The team is still working hard to improve their projects, making changes like cutting down on words based off the judges’ feedback.

“The four judges at the district tournament wanted to see more sources from me so I’m planning on making that change,” Low said. “My partner and I are also planning on making our project more aesthetically pleasing, and we’re gonna add more frames and borders around the exhibit too.”

The qualifying students will compete in the NHD California State competition from April 19-21 to earn entry to the national competition.