| Mike Johnson from Utah State University presents Meagan Rogers with her first place award. |
Winners from the State History Fair are now preparing for National History Day in Washington D.C. on June 15-19. Meagan Rogers, Curt Jensen, Spencer Colby, Jeremy Gilbert, and Mike Reed will leave on June 14 to go to Washington, D.C. The students have been attending local public meetings to gain awareness and support for their trip to national competition.
At the May public lands meeting, Mark Ward, an assistant attorney general with the Utah Attorney General’s Office sent the following comment to Wendy Whittle, teacher of the students. He wrote, “There was something powerfully riveting about this message coming from these young people. It is not an overstatement, that the audience at that meeting was very riveted to hear the truth (about the environmentalists’ push to shut down multiple use lands in rural Utah in the name of ‘wilderness expansion’ to the detriment of local economies and values) come out of the mouths of these young people.
“As I witnessed the powerful effect this presentation had on the audience at that public lands meeting, I thought how much more powerfully this message is conveyed by students who live in the counties effected by this environmental expansionism,” said Ward.
The boys presentation is entitled, “All is not well in the Swell,” and discusses the traditional uses on the Swell and the work of the environmentalists to shut people out of the Swell. Rogers presentation is about the Japanese internment during World War II and focuses on the rights of all Americans regardless of their ethnic background. The presentations reflect the feelings of the students about the issues portrayed.
Rogers placed first in state competition and Colby, Jensen, Gilbert and Reed took second in state.
At the recent commission meeting the Emery County Commissioners donated $250 to the students to help with expenses for the Washington trip. Mark H. Williams from the Southeastern Utah OHV club also donated $250 to the students. Anyone wishing to help the students with their trip can contact their teacher, Wendy Whittle at 384-2248.