The school cafeteria filled with a touch of creativity as it displayed the exhibit entries of the National History Day Competition on Dec. 7 and 8. This is the fourth year that the school has required all 10 and 11 grade history students to participate in the event. About 300 entries were submitted.

Students addressed this year’s theme of “Triumph and Tragedy in History” with submissions in one of five categories: exhibit, historical paper, documentary, performance, and website.

The submissions will be evaluated by a group of judges consisting of teachers, administrators, parents, district coaches as well as several UCLA faculty members.

The winners in the school-wide division of the event will move on to compete against other students in the County. Winners may continue on to the State and finally the National level of competition. Uni plans to send all its winners to the County event.

History Day has become such a well known and respected tradition that Marlene Canter, the School Board President, visited on Dec. 7 to have a look at the entries.

“I’m very impressed with the way in which these exhibits bring the subjects to life and display them in a way that you can see the event actually happening,” said Canter. “This event is about understanding the subject but also about using your creativity to draw the viewer in.”

Mark Rhomberg, History Department Chair and History Day Coordinator for University High School, is very pleased that student participation and quality of submissions increases each year.

“I think students are very proud of what they create, and we get better every year,” he said. “Last year Uni placed in four of the five categories [in the County level competition], and this year we hope to take in all five.”