Viewpoint students show sense of history

ANTIQUITY EXPERTS- Viewpoint School students Naomi Elias, left, and Emma Murphy stand with teacher Susan Elliott, center, after winning top awards at the 28th annual History Day L.A. competition. Elliott won an Excellence in Teaching Award at the event.

Viewpoint School student Emma Murphy of Westlake Village won first place in the Senior Division Historical Paper Competition at the 28th Annual History Day L.A., hosted by Azusa Pacific University on March 15.

Murphy tackled the theme of this year's competition, "Conflict and Compromise in History," with a study of how the Massachusetts Bay Colony compromised its ideal of a "City Upon a Hill." She will compete at the 2008 History Day California State Finals in Sacramento, May 8-11.

Viewpoint student Naomi Elias received second place. Elias wrote her paper on the tragic ways the founding fathers compromised their Enlightenment principles in their protection of slavery.

The students submitted their papers in January for review and then answered questions about their work on the day of the competition. Judges selected the Murphy and Elias submissions as the two best high school historical papers from Los Angeles County.

Viewpoint is a private coeducational school in Calabasas.

The girls' teacher, Susan Elliott, was awarded the 2008 George Moffett Excellence in Teaching Award. The annual teaching award is given to a high school teacher in Los Angeles County who has shown excellence in the pursuit of historical inquiry.

"Emma is a delightful young woman with a real aptitude for historical investigation," Elliot said. "In this paper she showed sensitivity to the complicated issues of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and she demonstrated an understanding of the subtle nuances of historical interpretation of the colonial period through the lens of the modern age."

Both girls are juniors.

"(Naomi's) command of Enlightenment principles in this essay was exceptional. It is wonderful that both Emma and Naomi have received this recognition for their truly excellent work," Elliot said.

This is the first year that Viewpoint students have participated in the History Day L.A. competition, which is part of a statewide program sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation in conjunction with National History Day.

History Day L.A. is a historybased learning experience and scholastic competition for Los Angeles County students in grades four to 12.

This year, more than 650 students participated in History Day with nearly 2,400 people in attendance.