Rosa International Middle School is a regular at National History Day’s national competition each June. However, the program’s success goes beyond hard work and dedication.
For the last 10 years, students who participated on Rosa International Middle School’s National History Day team have put together projects detailing the legacies of dozens of historical figures.
At the same time, these students have been putting together their own legacy.
Rosa’s National History Day team has become one of the most successful in the state. It has qualified at least one project for the national NHD competition each of the past nine years. At this year’s state finals, Rosa qualified two projects for the national competition, had a third project selected as an alternate, and had two projects receive special awards
Rosa’s NHD program goes beyond learning about history. It’s about a group of eighth-grade students who learn about the values of perseverance and teamwork, and grow together as a family over the course of a school year.
“Kids who didn’t know they could do it become giants in this room,” said Christy Marrella, Rosa teacher and the coordinator for the National History Day program. “As long as this room stays my room, it will be the portal for changing history and changing lives.”
A year-long school project
National History Day is a series of competitions where students are given a theme at the beginning of the year. The students, who can work as small groups or individually, are asked to pick a topic based on the theme and create a detailed project in the form of an exhibit, documentary, paper, performance or website. The students present their project at a regional competition in March. The winning regional projects advance to the state finals in May. The winners at the state level go on to compete in the national competition in Washington D.C. in June.
Not only musicians, but also historians. Rosa students present at the National History Day regional competition. Great job by all!
When Rosa’s NHD team started 10 years ago, there were just 10 students competing in two groups. Over the past decade, the team has grown exponentially. This year, 72 students gathered in B103, Marrella’s classroom, to put together their projects for this year’s competition.
The students join NHD for a variety of reasons. Some students, such as eighth grader Leo Granite join NHD because of their interest in history.
“A lot of us were just extremely interested in history,” Granite said. “We just had a common interest in things that happened in the past.”
For others, they are interested in following in the footsteps of previous students. NHD is open to Rosa’s eighth-grade students. Toward the end of each school year, the outgoing eighth graders speak to the seventh grade about NHD and encourage them to join the team next year.
A couple NHD members from this year wanted to following in the footsteps of their siblings. Gabby O’Brien and Julieanna Lam both had sisters who previously participated in NHD.
“I wanted to see what she experienced when she was in eighth grade,” Lam said. “I remember her staying up late and reading articles for her project.”
Other students recognized the closeness of the NHD group. Sophia Conte joined NHD this year to have a chance to work with a group of people she hadn’t met previously.
“I really wanted to make new friends and meet some new people,” Conte said.
In the early part of the year, topics are selected and groups formed. Many students work in small groups, while a few students opt to do individual projects. The months leading up to the South Jersey regional competition in early March are filled with hours of research, writing, collaboration and fine tuning.
“You get to see your project evolve so much over the course of seven or eight months and you get to see your teammates grow,” O’Brien said.
Many NHD members say it’s hard to describe how much time goes into the projects. Shayna Herzfeld notes the students spend more time on their NHD work than projects from their in-school classes.
“To quantify it, in terms of how many hours all of us put into our projects, I think it’s about 1,000 hours,” she said. “Not for each project, but for each person.”
Becoming a family
If one attended the New Jersey National History Day state finals on May 6 at William Paterson University, they would have spotted a large group of students wearing matching blue shirts and khaki pants.
Rosa rocks it at NJ National History Day #nhdlegacy #kidsinblue @ChpsTweets @RIMSTweets @NJNHD @JamesMadisonFdn
Rosa’s NHD team wears the matching shirts to each of its competitions, and with 11 groups qualifying for this year’s state competition, there was a large contingent from Cherry Hill.
“The best part of states was when we are all together,” Herzfeld said. “Everyone was walking around the campus together and joking around. It’s so much fun to be around people who want the same thing as you.”
Marrella believes the group’s togetherness makes Rosa’s NHD team unique. Rosa’s team features groups who are, at times, competing against one another. However, Marrella fosters a feeling of family and has the students focus on trying their best rather than winning.
“I don’t focus on winning because it’s not №1 for me,” she said. “The key piece of this program is that the journey is more important than the destination.”
The strength of the Rosa NHD family was apparent as the results were read at this year’s state competition. While Rosa had two documentary projects selected to go to nationals and a third selected as an alternate, a number of other projects did not make it. However, that did not matter for many of the students.
“We were sitting next to a couple groups with exhibits,” said Herzfeld, who was in one of the two winning groups. “They didn’t make it through with their exhibits. They were obviously heartbroken, but they completely forgot about their projects (after the winning groups were announced). They were so happy for us.”
The NHD family extends beyond the current eighth-grade students. Each year, former NHD competitors are invited back to act as mentors. Joshua Pine, a freshman at Cherry Hill High School East, was one of the former NHD students who helped this year.
“You’re just finding yourself in the world,” Pine said about eighth grade. “You have high school coming up the next year. NHD gives you that stability and you know that when you go into whatever high school you go to, you have family you can lean on.”
Marrella stays in touch with many students who have competed in NHD over the years. As part of Rosa’s June trip to the national competition, the students will get to meet some of the NHD alumni at a barbecue and take part in some activities with the alumni.
“I treat my students like my family,” Marrella said. “That’s how you build a core.”
Herzfeld and other NHD students embrace this family concept. They talk of how Marrella challenges them to advance NHD’s legacy.
“Something we talk about all the time is legacy,” Herzfeld said. “What kind of legacy are you weaving for yourself and what kind of legacy are you leaving for the people coming up behind you.”
While the students are thrilled to celebrate their accomplishments in NHD, there’s one person they believe is a big reason they have had so much success.
NHD’s inspirational leader
Marrella rarely talks about her role with NHD. She prefers to talk about her students’ work, showcasing their projects and the research they’ve done over the course of the year.
However, the students say they wouldn’t be able to compete at such a high level without Marrella.
“NHD would not be the same without Marrella,” Herzfeld said. “The kind of support she gives all of the NHDers, not just with their projects but also outside of that, is incredible.”
Granite said Marrella has helped him grow as a person because of her encouraging words through NHD. He fondly recalls some of the speeches she gave to the team just prior to competition.
“She makes you believe you can do this,” Granite said.
Marrella’s husband, Steve also dedicates some of his time to the group. O’Brien talked of how much both of them are an inspiration to the students.
“They’re so supportive and they give us so much time to be here with us,” she said. “They’re both such great role models for us. They’re so invested in this and showed us how much they love this.”
Marrella has been the one constant for the NHD program since its inception. She has seen hundreds of students compete and succeed under her leadership over the past 10 years. However, she refuses to take the credit for the team’s success.
“It’s not me,” Marrella said. “I’m honored by what they say, but it’s not me, it’s them. I get to go on the ride of my life with them each year.”
The NHD family will expand again next year as a new group of eighth graders prepares to tackle the competition. Some of the current eighth graders hope to help next year, while others look forward to cheering on the future generations of students to success.
For Marrella, nothing in the world tops what she experiences with NHD.
“My best memories have been with them,” she said.
