TEMPLE, Texas — Three Travis Science Academy students will be competing to win state-wide honors in the Texas History Day competition next weekend. All three students qualified for the state competition based on their performance in the Heart of Texas Regional History Fair (HOTRHF) in February.
Eighth-grader Valerie Velasquez won first place in the Junior Individual Website competition at the HOTRHF to earn her spot in the Texas History Day competition. Velasquez created a website titled “Cuban Missile Crisis: The Compromise”. She had to research primary and secondary sources to create her website and is very excited to be a regional champion and state qualifier.
“It was amazing to find out I won, and I am very excited to be going to state,” Velasquez said. “It would be incredible to move on because this is such a great and special opportunity to have, especially as an eighth grader.”
Eighth graders Mallory Jarrell and Emma Fisher will also be advancing to state competition after placing second in the Junior Group Website contest at the HOTRHF. Jarrell and Fisher collaborated on a website titled “The Making of the Atom Bomb.”
“We’ve both always been interested in World War II, so we looked at the theme and thought this would be a good fit,” Jarrell said. “It has been stressful to find time to get everything put together, but it feels great to see how our hard work was recognized.”
“Once we found out we were moving on, we were really excited,” Fisher said. “It has been a great experience for me because I want to work with computers and to code, so this has really been a good opportunity for me.”
The Heart of Texas Regional History Fair is a regional affiliate for both the Texas History Day and National History Day competitions. HOTRHF covers a 14-county region in Central Texas that includes the following counties: Bell, Bosque, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Hamilton, Hill, Lampasas, Limestone, McLennan, Milam, Mills, Navarro and Robertson. The HOTRHF was founded in 1986 and this year’s competition was held at the Bill Daniel Student Center at Baylor University.
The Texas History Day competition will be held April 23rd in Austin. The three TSA students will compete virtually in the state competition. Winners and second-place finishers at the state competition will advance to the National History Day competition in June.