Senior Judging on Tuesday

Yesterday the juniors did the heavy lifting; today it was the seniors' turn. Our senior judge times overlapped, so the History Day staff split up to try to see as many as possible.

We all started with Sequim High School's Olivia Boots and Rachel Haugland, whose documentary on the polio vaccine set a high standard.

After that, it was an uphill run to catch Academy Northwest's Anna Dubnow in her performance about Theodore Herzl, whose activism helped pave the way for an independent Israel.

We headed across campus again, this time to catch Shorewood High's Will Chan and Tim Tan. Their documentary about China's one-child policy wowed the audience.

After a quick lunch break, Lauren caught Amy and Audrey Christianson's compelling performance about Johannes Gutenberg, which featured a set piece painted by Audrey and outstanding acting and research by both sisters.

Rachel saw Bainbridge's Anya Eber present her performance about Mary Boykin Chesnut and Luke Jensen (at nationals for the fourth time) present his documentary about the U.S. Exploring Expedition.

It was typical Maryland summer here today--hot, humid, and breaking into thunderstorms late in the afternoon. A brief rain preceded the ceremonial posting of finals (see next post), but spirits remained high--the kids are starting to get a little punchy now that most of the judging is over.