• Collections
• Exhibits
• Middletown
• Education
Sheedy Contest Working with Teachers Workbook

• Genealogy
• Links
• Newsletter

Home >> Education >> Sheedy Contest >> Information for Teachers

Sheedy History Contest - Information for Teachers

Dear Third Grade Teacher:

The Middlesex County Historical Society is again holding its annual William E. Sheedy Memorial Contest.  The contest is open to all third graders in Middletown public and private schools.  We ask that you give each of the children in your class the four-sided packed of information about the contest and the historical Society brochure and encourage your students to enter.

Please encourage your students to visit our web site exhibit Their Own Stories at www.middlesexhistory.org.  This virtual tour of Middletown’s past explores the lives of a number of families from many different backgrounds that made this area their home.  Your students should find the exhibit instructive as they think about their own family stories.

The Sheedy History Contest taps into the students’ innate inquisitive spirits and hones their research skills as they use a variety of techniques as well as primary and secondary sources to create their depictions.  They interview family members, dig up old newspaper clippings, and unearth photographs and documents to explore the connections between a loved one’s life and the era he or she lived in. We take their efforts seriously.  A copy of each winning report is added to the Historical Society’s collection, expanding its archives and knowledge about the citizens of Middletown and their forebears.

Please note that this year we ask all entries to be in essay or scrapbook form: No posters, videos, audiotapes or other electronic formats.

Entries are due to you by April 3, 2009.  We ask that you send all entries from your class to Nancy Bauer at Middlesex Historical Society or Moody School with a list, headed by your name and school, of the names of the students who submitted entries. (Please make sure your list accurate.) You need to have the entries to me by April 8th at the latest.  Society hours will be extended on April 7 and 6 until 5:00 PM. In May, we will contact each winner by mail and inform your principal about any winners from your school.  We will also provide you with certificates of participation and special pencils for each participant and return the entries.  You and your students who participate in the contest also will receive invitations to a reception for all contest participants that we will hold on Thursday. June 4, 2009 at 6:00 PM at General Mansfield House 151 Main Street.

If you have any questions call the Historical Society at 346-0746 or email me at bauern@mps1.org.

Sincerely,

Nancy A. Bauer

Board Of Directors, Sheedy Contest Chairperson