JCHS Phagan & Collins Combine Talent for Tennessee History Day Competition

Shay Phagan & Lauren Collins – Staff Photo by Jeff Depew

Jefferson County High School Sophomores Lauren Collins and Shay Phagan recently won accolades for their documentary entry in the Tennessee History Day Competition. The State level competition is affiliated with the National History Day Competition. The program is designed as a year long enhancement that encourages middle and high school students to engage in the discovery and interpretation of historical topics. Collins and Phagan combined their efforts and talents and produced a documentary entitled Freedom of Religion to Freedom from Religion. In their film they presented the changing role of religion in government and schools. The piece was awarded 4^th place in the East Tennessee District and was alternate for State competition. This is Collins second time to try her hand at the competition. During her time at White Pine Middle School, Collins won 1^st place in the National History Day Competition. This was Phagan’s first entry into the competition and a step outside of his normal areas of interest. Interestingly, the pair do not share a history teacher and the decision to combine efforts on the project was all their own. Lauren said that Shay, who also hails from White Pine, wrote in her school year book that he was interested in combing skills, should she decide to compete again. Two years later, the pair produced the documentary. Shay said that planning for the event started in mid Fall and that the compiling of material and production of the documentary was time consuming but informative. Though Phagan and Collins worked together on the project, they split some responsibilities to capitalize on each other’s strengths. The subject matter of their project was more edgy than some entries and the topic of changing role of religion can elicit strong responses, even from judges, however Collins and Phagan wanted to address an issue that had real time impact rather than selecting a safe topic.

Now that the 2013 National History Day Competition has come to a close for Collins and Phagan, they are turning their efforts to another project that is closer to home. Shay has a serious interest in robotics and is considering pursuing that interest after graduation. He is looking to start an engineering club at Jefferson County High School and Lauren has committed to helping him in his pursuit. Following the release of Freedom of Religion to Freedom from Religion from competition guidelines, the documentary is planned to be shown on the Jefferson County Post.