McCallie School’s Will Hopping will be one of 62 students from the State of Tennessee to compete at the National History Day competition June 15-19 at the University of Maryland.
Will is a junior day student whose history project, a website on the displacement of Harrison, Tenn.
, residents during the construction of the Chickamauga Dam and Lake, earned him second place at the state’s Tennessee History Day in the senior individual website category. While researching his project titled “I Won’t Be Contrary: TVA, Chickamauga and the Dispossessed", Will uncovered recorded interviews with ancestors of his history teacher, Dr. Duke Richey.
The state competition was held April 12 in Nashville and included 450 students from grades 6-12. First- and second-place finishers in the various categories advance to Nationals.
Will is the third McCallie student to advance to Nationals in the two years the school has participated. Jameson Barnes and Colton Petty represented the school last year.
National History Day was founded by an Ohio college professor who wanted to create a new way for students to learn about history outside the traditional classroom setting. The theme for this year’s national contest is “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”