Students Teach the Community About Clallam County History

A history of the Scandinavian settlement at Lake Ozette and the life of a Port Angeles artist, nurse and politician, written by a Forks High School student, will be among the five papers about Clallam County history that will be presented at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 15, at Lincoln Center (formerly the Skills Center), 905 W. Ninth St., Port Angeles. The public in invited to talk to the students (sixth-eleventh graders) and examine their presentations.

The event is sponsored by North Olympic History Center, formerly the Clallam County Historical Society, and is the first year of the “Hands on History” program, in which Clallam County students were asked to submit papers about the county’s history along with a visual display about their subjects.

“The purpose of the program is to educate our citizens about the vivid history of Clallam County,” said Patrick Noonan, the center’s education chair.

“Virtually none of us has had a course in county history and our kids are stepping up to correct that,” he said.

The paper about the Scandinavian settlement was written by Emaleigh Smith of Port Angeles, a descendant of those settlers. Cecilia Estrada Elena, a Forks High School Junior, wrote about Minerva Lewis Troy. Other papers to be presented are: “The Manis Mastodon Site” by Raven Taylor; “Unleashing the Beast: The Elwha River Restoration Project” by Talia Anderson, Abby Sanders and Maize Tucker; “The Ferries of Lake Crescent” by Peter Zelenka.

After opening remarks, the audience will be invited to meet with students to discuss their papers and displays. Judges will be in the audience, grading the students’ work. Results and scholarships will be announced April 16.

“This is the first year for Hands on History,” said Noonan. “We plan to repeat the event annually with new topics and more students. We encourage county residents to come out, learn from the kids and support this exciting new program,” he added.

The presentation event is part of the center’s monthly History Tales program.