Congratulations
to
Julienne
Lim,
eighth-grade
student
at
Porter
Traditional
School,
whose
website
earned
a
top
spot
in
the
National
History
Day
(NHD)
Contest.
Julienne
placed
first
in
her
category
at
the
Northern
Virginia
district
contest,
then
second
in
the
junior
individual
website
category
at
the
state
level
Virginia
History
Day
Contest,
earning
her
the
right
to
advance
to
the
NHD
National
Contest.
She
attributes
her
skills
in
coding
and
animation
to
her
involvement
in
school
robotics.
This
knowledge
led
to
her
ease
and
success
using
the
NHD
website
builder
tool
on
which
she
produced
her
project,
"Devil
Dog
Canines:
A
Line
of
Communication
in
World
War
II.""As someone with a strong preference for technology, the website category heavily appealed to me," writes Julienne. "I have a background in coding and animation, since I do robotics. My goal was to present clear and coherent information in a nostalgic way; therefore, I used the monochrome effect."
Julienne's research and resulting website focused on the important role messenger dogs played in sending battlefield communications in the Pacific Theatre of World War II to support the national theme, "Communication in History: The Key to Understanding."
"The work of these four-legged heroes resulted in enormous contributions to multiple victories of the United States and its allied countries during World War II, and to the improvement of war communications," she writes.
Similar to a science fair, the NHD competition encourages original research that begins at the local level, but for history. Student projects can progress from local to a state contest and, during the summer, culminates at the NHD National Contest.
The Virginia Museum of History and Culture (VMHC) sponsors the Virginia History Day Contest, the state affiliate of NHD. Students participate in the program by selecting a topic in history they are interested in, connecting it to the annual NHD theme, conducting primary and secondary source research, and presenting the findings in one of five forms: documentary, exhibit, performance, website, and paper.
Julienne also received the United States Marine Corps History Award, which is sponsored by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and is awarded to an outstanding entry that demonstrates an appreciation of Marine Corps history.