Michigan History Day Winners!
Back - left to right- Kennedy Brooks, Kendon Williams , Dynisha Hackworth, Dee Voss, Fel Patton
Front-Collin Bogue, Anna Leach, Keith Porter
Front- left to right -Shirley Heimstra, Tanya Leach
Second Row- Damien Hackworth, Debbie Hackworth, Dorinda Hackworth, Rita Reed
Third Row- Geri Sims , Fel Patton ,
Fourth Row - Dynisha Hackworth , Kennady King
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Michigan History Day Regional Competition
Cassopolis Takes First in Michigan History Day Finals!
Press Release 4/27/2015
Cassopolis – The Sam Adams Team 5th grade team of Collin Bogue, Kennedy Brooks, Anna Leach, Keith Porter and Kendon Williams won first place in the Youth Group Performance Category for the their play, The Legacy of Nathan and Pamela Thomas. They also received a special award for the Best Entry in African American/People of African Descent World History (Sponsored by Hispanic Latino Commission of Michigan in Partnership with Lansing Area Sister Cities Commission).
State Champions left to right, Kennady Brooks, Collin Bogue, Kendon Williams, Keith Porter and Anna Leach.
Dynisha Hackworth, shown here with coach, Felomina Patton, was selected as an alternate to the National History Day Finals in Washington D.C.
Michigan History Day volunteers (back row) Chastity King, Geraldine Sims and Dorinda Hackworth, front row: Kennady King, Felomina Patton and Alberta Merchant.
The team based their play on a story told by Nancy Rafferty, a docent at the Underground Railroad House (the preserved home of Nathan and Pamela Thomas) in Schoolcraft. The story was a bout a young family of freedom-seekers who became separated when the husband allowed himself to be captured so that his wife and baby could escape. With the help of a young boy, he escaped from his captor. Traveling separately, not knowing if they would see each other again, the freedom-seekers made their way through Cass County (likely on the Quaker line of the Underground Railroad) to arrive at the Thomas home. Nathan Thomas was a conductor and also the only doctor in Schoolcraft. He considered himself blessed to be able to treat the husband’s leg and reunite the family. Volunteer coach Ruth Andrews helped the team develop their script and hone their play.
Dynisha Hackworth, a Ross Beatty Junior High School student, created a documentary, Lucie and Thornton Blackburn, and is an alternate to the National Competition. The Thornton’s were also freedom-seekers from Kentucky who managed to escape to Detroit, and lived there for a couple years, establishing themselves among Detroit’s African American society. In 1833 the Blackburns were recognized by someone who knew them from Kentucky; the Sheriff was forced to arrest them. Two of Lucie’s friends obtained permission to visit her in jail. One of them bravely changed clothes with her, allowing Lucie to escape. When Thornton was about to be transported back south, Detroit’s black population rioted, allowing him to escape. The Blackburns established themselves in Toronto and became very successful.
Over 470 elementary, middle and high school students competed for state honors on Saturday, April 25 at DeWitt High School in DeWitt. Local Michigan History Day Coordinators Felomina Patton and Ruth Andrews wish to thank the many individuals and organizations who supported the students’ efforts.
From left to right: Kennedy Brooks, Anna Leach, Kennady King, Kendon Williams, Dynisha Hackworth, Rachel Williams, Keith Porter, Faith Floor and Collin Bogue. Not pictured, Zaniya Dodd.
"Letting Off Steam" : )
Michigan History Day Winners shown with coaches Ruth Andrews, Felomina Patton and Carolyn Kelly
Press Release: March 9, 2015
"Students Bring History Alive"
Of the seventeen Cassopolis students who participated in district level Michigan History Day competition on the Western Michigan campus, on Saturday, March 7, ten will advance to the state finals on April 25th. Michigan History Day gives kids a chance to become historians by writing a paper, creating an exhibit, building a website, making a documentary or creating a performance. Kids can participate as individuals or as part of a small group. This year’s theme is Leadership and Legacy. The Cassopolis team of Collin Bogue, Kennedy Brooks, Anna Leach, Keith Porter and Kendon Williams won first place in the Youth Group Performance category for their play, the Legacy of Nathan and Pamela Thomas. They got their idea after visiting the Underground Railroad House in Schoolcraft, where they heard stories about the Quaker Underground Railroad conductors and the freedomseekers who passed through their house.
Other students who will advance to the state finals include Dynisha Hackworth, 8th grade, for her documentary Thornton and Lucy Blackburn, Kennady King, for her exhibit Claudette Colvin, and 4th grader Rachel Williams, together with 5th graders Zaniya Dodd and Faith Floor for their play The Little Lady Who Wrote the Book that Started the War, about Harriet Beecher Stowe. Ruth Andrews and Felomina Patton coordinated the Michigan History Day Team with assistance from Jimmy Johnson, Carolyn Kelly, Tina Reich and Margie Yarger. The team wishes to thank the Local History Branch of the Cass District Library, Calvin Community Chapel, the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County, Penn Friends Community Church, and the United Presbyterian Church of Cassopolis for resources, support and encouragement.
Michigan History Day
Underground Railroad Society
of Cass County, Michigan
urscc.org