Tag National History Day

A crowd of fifth-graders dressed in colorful costumes talk excitedly while at Battle of the Books 2022.

Celebrating 20 years of A+ Partners in Education

Kristen B. Leave a comment
A crowd of fifth-graders dressed in colorful costumes talk excitedly while at Battle of the Books 2022.
Fifth graders excited for Battle of the Books 2022 at Merriweather Post Pavilion.

by Katie DiSalvo-Thronson

In the fall of 2002, Howard County Public School System and Howard County Library System formed A+ Partners in Education to expand the educational opportunities and enhance the academic achievement of every Howard County student. It was one of the first systemwide school and public library partnerships in the nation.

We are proud to celebrate 20 years of collaboration. Together we have furthered students’ academic success, enhanced their love of reading and learning, and forged a connection to libraries that will serve them their whole lives.

Right from the start
The library is integrated into student’s experiences from the beginning of their academic career. Kindergarten, Here We Come prepares and inspires incoming kindergarteners and gives them a chance to tour a school bus. Then, every kindergarten class takes a field trip to the library for a class, a tour, and a friendly connection to this important family resource. We are proud to add another point of early connection: next year, the HCLS mobile unit will visit every HCPSS Pre-K to engage students and parents!

Connecting to serve students
Every school has a dedicated HCLS liaison, and our educators and staffs collaborate to offer hundreds of school-based HCLS classes and events that serve those school communities. Two great examples of that work: supporting National History Day student projects, and facilitating parent and student engagement at Deep Run Elementary School (both initiatives featured in the current issue of Source, our award-winning publication). We also collaborate on summer reading lists and promotion, to help all students read and continue to learn all summer.

Our systems are connected, too! Did you know every HCPSS student has an account with the library system, built right into the student portal, hcpss.me? With one click, students can access all online library resources and reserve books at HCLS branches. In the last year, students borrowed 80,337 books, e-books, and other resources on A+ accounts.

A+ Partners also connect to offer students free support via Brainfuse: last year, HCPSS students received 12,164 free online tutoring and test prep sessions and used Brainfuse study tools 52,355 times!

A+ Makes Learning Fun
In Battle of the Books, students experience reading as dynamic, social, and exciting. Teams of fifth graders read 10-14 titles over a year and practice answering questions about each book in a competition with pun-ny teamwork, costumes, and a dance party! Affectionately referred to as BOB, the contest grew from one high school gym to six sites. This year, we celebrated with 1,234 students at Merriweather Post Pavilion.

HCLS also sponsors the local competition of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. More than 7,000 students from 41 HCPSS schools participated last year alone. Saketh Sundar, one of the historic Octo-champs of the National Spelling Bee, was a four-time winner of the HCLS Spelling Bee!

More Outreach, Equity & Impact
HCLS is deeply grateful to the leadership of HCPSS, library instructors, and school-based educators, staff, parents, and volunteers who help us serve children through this partnership.

We look ahead with energy and commitment. HCLS is dedicated to strategic, collaborative work and additional outreach and engagement with schools to help every student and their family enjoy increased opportunity and academic success with library resources. Whether as a volunteer, school leader, or prospective sponsor, we welcome you to reach out and join us in this important work.

Here’s to 20 more years!

Katie is the Community Education and Engagement Manager for HCLS. She loves people, the big questions, the woods, and chocolate.

The picture is of the National HIstory Day logo, with black lettering on a white background and red stripes in between the lines.

Crossing the History Day Frontier

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The picture is of the National HIstory Day logo, with black lettering on a white background and red stripes in between the lines.

by Jean B.

Middle and high school students participating in the 2023 National History Day competition can count on HCLS to be their partner as they explore the theme, Frontiers in History. It’s easy to cross the frontier into your neighborhood library for support and materials. In fact, many HCLS resources are available to you without leaving home! Go to our History Day web page where you can find details on the local, state, and national contest rules and timelines, and a gateway to curated support for your journey:

Inspiration and guidance. You’ll find classes and workshops at many HCLS branches where you can meet History Day judges and learn important tips and tools, from choosing a topic, to thinking about a research strategy, to completing an annotated bibliography. Search National History Day on our calendar of events for dates, locations, and details.

Personalized support. Once you have an idea for your project, sign up for a one-on-one meeting with an HCLS teen instructor to develop your thesis, learn how to use library research tools, access appropriate primary and secondary source materials, or have your work reviewed. Request an appointment at hclibrary.org/new-a-main/students/history-day-research.

Authoritative primary source materials. Did you know that you can read The Ellicott City Times from the 1920s to the 1950s on microfilm at the Central Branch? That’s one classic way to cross history’s frontiers! But with your A+ Student account and a computer, tablet, or phone, you can access the vast range of historical documents found in HCLS’ online databases, like these:

  • American Periodicals: Includes more than 1,500 magazines and journals published from 1740 – 1940.
  • Archives Unbound: Includes Maryland’s city and business directories from 1752 – 1929, letters and reports from the War of 1812, and Confederate newspapers.
  • Baltimore Afro-American Archives: Search issues of the most widely circulated African American weekly newspaper on the East Coast (1893-1988).
  • Indigenous Peoples of North America: Find short films, photos, newspaper articles, manuscripts, and much more about Native Americans.

Hitch your wagon to HCLS for History Day success and start your journey today.

Jean B. is a Children’s Instructor and Research Specialist at the Central Branch and loves reading books for all ages when she isn’t enjoying the outdoors.

A purple background with bright blue patterns reads "Debate & Diplomacy in History".

Game Time!

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A purple background with bright blue patterns reads "Debate & Diplomacy in History".

by Deb B.

Game Time!

Prepare to explore an immersive, intellectually stimulating game of friendship and betrayal, with spies and imposters, alliances and rivals. Will you witness a campaign of persuasion, or one of war and pestilence? Hoarded resources or shared technology? How is trade conducted? Who are the players on the board?

No, I am not referring to a game of Among Us or a Dungeons and Dragons adventure. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to complete the 2021 National History Day project, Debate and Diplomacy in History: Failures, Successes, Consequences.

Tumble down primary and secondary source rabbit holes following an historical topic. Analyze immediate and long term impacts, its connection to the annual theme, and create a structured presentation model showcasing extensive research and conclusions in a national competition for grades, glory, and potential monetary awards! Sports have nothing on this competition.

Parents, we are here to help. It is not cheating for students to get research assistance. Students, tap your teachers and parents and the local, free, natural habitat for history and research nerds eager to help search for buried sources – the Howard County Library System.

Attend an in-person or virtual class, such as NHD Topic Development (also online), Maximize Your Research (online), and a Thesis Workshop (online). These classes are not exclusive to NHD students. We welcome parents and teachers and all teens interested in upgrading their critical thinking skills.

Schedule an NHD appointment at one of our branches.

Our classes, databases, and collection resources are also not cheats.

Play the game. Win!

Tackling National History Day

Kristen B. Leave a comment

NHD initials above two red bars, interspaced with National History Day text

By Deborah B.

It’s not cheating! 

September is around the bend, bringing refrigerators adorned with leaf collages, stink bugs, and virtual football parties with snacks of imaginary calories. It also catapults middle and high school students into the vast expanse that is the National History Day Project, a year-long exploration of an historical topic where students analyze the topic’s immediate and long term impact and its connection to the annual theme, then create a structured presentation model showcasing their extensive research and conclusions in a national competition for grades, glory, and potential monetary awards. Piece of cake.

Parents, do not hit the liquor cabinet! We are here to help! Seriously, it is not cheating for students to get research and analysis assistance. Teachers and parents are frequently tapped, but there is a local, free, natural habitat for history and research nerds eager to help search for buried sources… Howard County Library System.

This year’s theme is Communication in History: The Key to Understanding. How do people exchange information and interact with each other? Think of the act of communicating, the motivation for the communication, the who or what the communication affects. Think of how we struggle with conveying meaning today, even without Zoom calls.

Our virtual classes such as Topic Development and Maximize Your History Day Research offer insights into these questions and others relating to the theme. In October, the NHD Thesis Workshop is a safe mosh pit for students to deconstruct, reconstruct, and beat the heck out of their arguments until they are honed enough to substitute as historical reenactment weapons. Well, maybe not that sharp. Our classes, databases, and collection resources are also not cheats. National History Day encourages students to create a reliquary of history-hunting tools.

Also, these classes are not exclusive to NHD students! We welcome parents and teachers and all teens interested in upgrading their critical thinking skills. In addition, we will host a complement of news literacy performance training. Beware aged opinions. Ideas and thinking can stagnate, even ideas originally based on empirical evidence. Have there been new discoveries? Is there new data? Healthy, critical thinking requires stimuli and exercise, and we coach students through bias obstacles and teach strategies to combat fallacies and fear of opposing viewpoints.

In the next few weeks, somewhere in the county, a child will be assigned a NHD project. There is hope! Our mission, aside from mixing as many metaphors as possible in this blog post, is to help students achieve their academic potential. A small donation of the student’s time rewards them with research guidance and alleviates a librarian suffering from an overabundance of historical minutia. So, go online or call to register for one of our fall NHD classes as soon as they open.

Remember, it’s not cheating.

Deborah B. is a triple threat nerd of books, history, and actual triplets.