National History Club, a haven for history buffs

By Ramil Lorenzo Gonzalez

r.gonzalez@trojantimes.org

Members of the National History Club, such as Junior Lisa Grandinetti (right), helped out at the MHS NHD fair on Dec. 7.

History lovers will feel right at home in MHS’ new National History Club (NHC), a local chapter of the nationwide NHC Inc. set up by History teacher Amy Perruso. The club, open to all students, aims to promote and strengthen the love of history in its members, and has been working on various projects ranging from helping out at History Day fairs to introducing National History Day (NHD) programs to elementary school students.

“It’s really exciting for me because I don’t know why we didn’t think of it before,” expressed Perruso, “But I like working with students in this area and I think that it’s good that students have multiple ways to express their multiple interests.” Perruso started the club in October taking into consideration the benefits being part of a national group would provide, including scholarship opportunities, potential publication of student work and the chance to interact with other history students across the country.

Much of the club consists of Perruso’s Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History students, as with Junior Megan Madeira. “I really wanted to join the club because, to me, historical understanding is imperative in order to understand not just specific events, but to learn about human nature,” she said.

Unlike other organizations, the NHC has a much more fluid schedule. “This club is not gonna be a ‘We meet every Wednesday’ kind of club … It’ll be driven by student goals,” said Perruso. Members often come together on special occasions, including the recent MHS History Day fair, where they helped organize the event. “I enjoyed helping to showcase the projects at the fair that I know many students worked hard to produce,” said Junior Lisa Grandinetti.

Another of the NHC’s more challenging projects is to implement NHD programs in Mililani elementary schools. “We have begun a partnership with Mililani Waena and Kipapa to introduce History Day to the 4th and 5th graders,” said Perruso. She and other club members, including Grandinetti and Madeira, visited some elementary schools to help convince Gifted and Talented (GT) program administrators to start the History Day program. “One of the challenges we had was convincing the Waena Elementary School teachers to come on board with the project, because they weren’t familiar with NHD and its processes,” commented Madeira.

These projects will then be shown off at the district NHD competition on Feb. 25, hosted by MHS. “I’m really excited about this partnership with the elementary school students because then their projects will actually also be displayed at our fair,” Perruso expressed, “It’ll be cute.”

With their recent successes and upcoming events, NHC members are optimistic about their future endeavors. “I mainly hope to enjoy myself working with elementary school students on NHD projects but I’d also love to be exposed to any opportunities in the social studies world that are offered to members of the club,” said Grandinetti.  “I enjoy working with people that are as passionate about history as I am,” added Madeira.

Perruso and the other club members all look forward to helping spread their love of history to students of all ages through their participation in these history projects.