Life on the Lone Star frontier | Texas Heroes Foundation announces theme for 2023 Student History Fair

As part of its Texas Independence Day celebration, the Texas Heroes Foundation is gearing up for its 11th annual Student History Fair with the announcement of next year’s theme — Frontiers in Texas History: People, Places, Ideas.

Hood County students in third through 12th grade participate in the fair each year for a chance to win award money and scholarships.

GROWTH

Heather Flannery, who has been the chairperson for the Student History Fair since 2019, said between 100 to 200 students participate in the fair every year. Since joining the student history department four years ago, she has tried to grow the program.

“Every year I just look at what's needed, and what else I can do to make it better or get more publicity, more excitement and more participation,” she said. “Last year, I added a keynote speaker and a master of ceremonies. I had (Hood County) Judge Bryan Bufkin as my master of ceremonies, and I had Kevin Killingsworth, who has written some history books, to come be the keynote speaker last year.”

SPEAKERS

This year, Judge Bufkin will be resuming his duties as master of ceremonies, while the keynote speaker will be Gary Foreman, producer of the History Channel and owner of Native Sun Productions.

“I'm trying to make it bigger and better this year,” Flannery said. “I'm hoping that I can get some funds together and put on a reception before the award ceremony just to make it seem more like a special occasion for the kids. I want them to feel like their effort and the work that they put into (the fair) is acknowledged and they get rewarded for it, whether they get an award or not."

THEME

The theme for the 2023 Student History Fair is Frontiers in Texas History: People, Places, Ideas.

“When you're thinking about a frontier, you're thinking about maybe like, the typical, you know, middle of nowhere, edge of civilization kind of frontier,” Flannery said. “But when you're talking about a person or an idea, it's really somewhere that has a definitive before and a definitive after. You've seen what was going on before, and because of this idea or this person, things changed, and it either got better, it got worse, but still something changed. Something made a change in history, so I'm really looking forward to seeing where these kids take this and the ideas that they come up with.”

Students can choose to do a research paper, creative writing paper, exhibit, artwork, or performance.

“We do get our theme from the National History Day competition, so if the kids wanted to, they could build this project and take it to national, like they can move on,” Flannery added. “There is a state and then there's the national competition, but I always build our theme around that just in case they wanted to move on.”

CREATIVITY

Flannery has been impressed with the amount of creativity and knowledge she has seen in students’ projects over the years.

“I have seen a 10-foot-tall oil rig. This project was huge, and this kid made it all by himself,” she said. “Then last year, this girl made a cookbook about different ways to make Texas traditional foods, and one of them was Texas sheet cake. In this cookbook, she would have one recipe here and another recipe here, and which one was better and why it would be better. It was a whole debate in a cookbook, and it was amazing how she just threw that all together to tie into that theme of Debate and Diplomacy and it still had to do with Texas history. These kids really put some effort into these projects.”

AWARDS CEREMONY

The Texas Heroes Foundation awards thousands of dollars to the winning participants at an awards ceremony each year.

For 2023, the awards ceremony will be held on Friday, Feb. 24, at the Acton United Methodist Church. Awards include first, second and third place in each category and division.

Flannery said depending on the funding, first place typically receives $100, second place receives $50, and third place receives $25.

Entries will be split into three categories for the schools (elementary, middle and high school). A Group Award will be given in each division of three categories. The People's Choice Award and Crockett Family Award will also be presented along with a senior scholarship.

"The group prize is typically $100, but we give in three different divisions,” Flannery said. “We also give a senior scholarship every year, and that's $500. We are always looking for more high school kids to participate. Our high school turnout is just a little small; it's pretty minimal. We're also always looking for volunteers and we do give service hours for that too.”

The Crockett Family Award, Flannery said, was created by the grandfather of her husband Errol — who is a fourth great-grandson of David Crockett.

“Errol's grandfather, Ken Hendricks, he came to one of the Student History Fairs and he just loved this little girl’s project,” she said. “He just thought she needed an award, and she wasn't gonna get one, and so he just started the Crockett Family Award. We're just carrying on a tradition and it just makes our heart happy to see that these kids are interested and loving Texas history because this state is so great. The Texas Heroes Foundation is preserving and protecting its history and making sure that everybody is loving where we live and interested in learning more.”

ENTRY DEADLINES

The deadline for submitting research and creative writing papers is Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. Entries can be submitted electronically from the link provided by the Texas Heroes Foundation website or by mail to: Texas Heroes Foundation Attn: Student History Fair, P.O. Box 5356, Granbury, TX 76049.

Entries for artwork, exhibits and performances will need to be dropped off at the Acton United Methodist Church, 3433 Fall Creek Highway either on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, from 3-5 p.m. or on Monday, Feb. 20, 2023, from 5-7 p.m.

For more information or details visit texasheroesfoundation.com or call Flannery at 940-465-0431.

"I hope everyone can come to the award ceremony,” Flannery added. “I just feel like these kids really deserve our congratulations and our support. They're welcome to turn in any type of project; we would love it. We just want to see more participation and more support for these kids because they are our future.”