MARCH 22, 2005

Colorado History Day Regional Competition to be Held at Mesa State College

Grand Junction, Colo. - More than 70 high school, middle school and home school students from across the Western Slope will gather at Mesa State College for the Colorado History Day regional competition on Saturday, March 26.

"Until last year, the Western Slope was the only region out of ten in our state that did not host History Day," said Dr. Vincent Patarino, Colorado History Day regional coordinator and Mesa State College lecturer of history. "Now, our local students can join the over 4,000 middle and high school students across Colorado who already create presentations for History Day."

As part of this year's History Day competition, students will research topics related to the theme "Communication in History: The Key to Understanding" and create presentations for one of four categories: papers, exhibits, documentaries or performances. Students will compete at either the junior level, grades 6-8, or the senior division, grades 9-12. All presentations will be held on the second floor of Houston Hall.

Later in the day, at 3 p.m., the top five winners in each category will be recognized by State House District 55 Representative Bernie Buescher during an awards ceremony in Liff Auditorium. In addition, these winners will go on to complete at the Colorado State History Day competition on Saturday, April 23 at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In turn, state winners will go on to compete at the national level at the University of Maryland during June 12-16. Colorado history students have traditionally placed well at the national level.

For more information on the regional History Day competition, contact Dr. Vincent Patarino Jr. at 970.248.1490 or vpatarin@mesastate.edu.

###