Tom Petersen combines bluegrass and History Day to win award

Shoreline resident Tom Petersen, a teacher at Kenmore Junior High in the neighboring Northshore School District, won Honorable Mention in the annual Lesson Plan Contest sponsored by the International Bluegrass Music Association. His entry, Bluegrass Topics for the National History Day Contest described how various aspects of the history, technology, artistry, and lore of Bluegrass, Country, and Americana Music often fit the themes of the National History Day contest. His students have done projects on the medicine show roots of country and jazz, folk legend Jean Ritchie, and innovations in bluegrass.

Mr. Petersen has coached History Day for 16 years, and has judged the contest for 25. He uses folk music in his history classes, and is a regular at the monthly 1st Sunday Jam at the Little Store in Richmond Beach, so combining the two activities was a natural. Mr. Petersen is a presenter and assistant with the educational programs for the Wintergrass Bluegrass Festival in Bellevue, Washington, including the Teachers Workshop, and the Youth Academy. Educators, parents, and kids interested in those programs can find more information at Acoustic Sound.

The International Bluegrass Music Association has music, cultural, and heritage resources for teachers on its website, including lesson plans from all the contest winners over the years. Lesson plans cover all subjects: math, science, history, English, music, art, business, technology, drama, special education, and elementary education. This year's top awards were for high school English classes, examining murder ballads, and the legend of John Henry, and early elementary intro to music using Froggy Went A-courtin'.

National History Day is a contest familiar to all Shoreline families, where students do serious research and produce extensive, high quality reports, displays, documentaries, plays, and websites on historical topics, fitting an annual theme, such as this year's "Innovation in History." The History Day contest has regional, state, and national levels. Shoreline is in the largest, most competitive region in the state, and will host the local-level contest on March 19 at the Shoreline Center. More information can be found at Washington History Day and National History Day.