Congratulations to Deer Lakes seventh-grade student Melanie Brown who placed second in the virtual National History Day regional competition!
Melanie will compete virtually in May for the state competition.
“It feels really good,” Melanie said. “I was kind of in shock because my title is very unique. When I saw it listed on the screen for 2nd place, I said ‘Oh my gosh!’ It was crazy.”
The Heinz History Center held the regional competition on Monday, March 8. This year’s theme was Communication in History and Melanie’s exhibit was called ‘Codenames, Ciphers, and a Clothesline: How the Culper Ring Won the Revolutionary War.’
The Culper Ring was a network of spies who provided vital information about British Army plans and actions to the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
“I really like Broadway, and I watched the musical ‘Hamilton’ and they mentioned the Culper Ring a couple times,” Melanie said. “I was really intrigued and thought it would be a cool topic. I did some Googling and fell in love with it.”
Mrs. McQueen, a K-8 gifted support teacher, had told Melanie about the competition in previous school years, but her schedule was always full.
With a little more time on her hands last fall, Melanie dug into books, the internet, and then she started making phone calls.
“I reached out to the National Society for the Daughters of the American Revolution because there was an Anna Smith Strong chapter,” Melanie said. “Anna Strong was one of the spies in the ring, so they gave me a bunch of emails of different people and I got to interview the third great-grandson of one of the spies.”
Melanie continued to make connections to research the Culper Ring, which likely helped separate her exhibit from many others.
Melanie, whose dad has a background as a history teacher, will continue to follow in his footsteps, at least in her curiosity for learning about significant past events.
She plans to compete in next year’s competition, which will have the theme of Debate and Diplomacy: Success, Failures, and Consequences. She may focus on Alexander Hamilton’s and Thomas Jefferson’s struggle over the structure, function, and power of the United States federal government.
Melanie also plays clarinet in the band and softball. She is student council vice president and in Girl Scouts.