A Limestone, N.Y., girl used her fascination with Gen. Thomas J.
“Stonewall” Jackson to make a historical documentary that has her
headed to a national competition.
Stephanie Mackowski, 13, a seventh grade student at
Allegany-Limestone (N.Y.) Middle School, has been fascinated with
Jackson for about seven years after visiting a Stonewall Jackson
monument in Manassas, Va. She volunteers as a tour guide at the
Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park in
Virginia, starting there at age 11.
Stephanie said Thursday she joined the history club earlier this
year, and her club advisor, Mike Conroy, talked to her about the
History Day competition.
“The theme this year (for the competition) was triumph and
tragedy, and that’s a perfect example of Stonewall Jackson,”
Stephanie said.
She said the club started working on project topics, and from
there, she narrowed down the topic to Chancellorsville.
Her father, Chris Mackowski, went on to explain that at
Chancellorsville, the Union army was three times bigger than the
Confederate army, but Stonewall Jackson played a big part in the
Confederate’s victory. During the battle, Jackson was accidentally
shot by one of his own soldiers and ended up dying from the injury
a few days later.
“It was really hard to get together the information,” Stephanie
said. “I talked to historian Frank O’Reilly (in Virginia). And then
we had to shoot the footage and tried to get as much as we can
because we” only had a limited time to work in Virginia.
Stephanie said then she had to pick out pictures, sound bits
from the interviews she did with the historians in Virginia, and
music to go along with the footage she recorded. She said she had
to do the narration or voice-overs and work up a script.
When all of that was finished, she went to work on the
documentary at the television lab at St. Bonaventure
University.
“The rules of the competition state she has to do everything on
her own,” Chris Mackowski said. “My part in all this was just to
unlock the lab door and sit and watch her while she worked. And I
didn’t know how to use the stuff in the lab. MaryBeth Garber (the
woman who is in charge of the lab) had to show her. She basically
had to start from scratch. By the end of the project, she
(Stephanie) was showing me how to use some of the equipment.”
Stephanie said it was a challenge to fit the whole story just
into a 10-minute documentary and added that the finished
documentary, titled “Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville: Triumph
and Tragedy,” runs nine minutes and 58 seconds long.
There are two levels in the History Day competition, with the
junior level including students from grades six through eight, and
the senior level including students from grades nine through 12.
Students compete in a variety of categories, including academic
papers, individual and group performances, individual and group
exhibits, and individual and group documentaries.
The first round of the competition was in April at the regional
level in Elmira, N.Y., that included the eight counties in the
Southern Tier. The panel of judges fill out suggestions on what
they thought was strong and what could use improving.
“No one was competing against me (in the documentary category)
so I went on to the next round,” Stephanie said. “But I got the
judges’ sheets and made some improvements to my documentary.”
The state competition was the last week in April in Cooperstown,
N.Y., and Stephanie faced about 15 competitors. She won the first
place medal in the individual documentary category at the junior
level.
She also won award certificates for the best use of primary
sources from the National Archives and the best entry about a Civil
War-related topic from the Abner Doubleday Civil War Roundtable, a
Civil War discussion group based in Cooperstown, which also gave
Stephanie a $100 savings bond. She said the award from the National
Archives was because no other competitors used quotes and on-site
footage in addition to pictures, like she did.
Stephanie explained that first, second and third places are
awarded at the state competition, but only the first and second
place winners go on to the National History Day competition, which
will be held Sunday in Washington. With all 50 states competing at
the national level, there will be 100 competitors, including
Stephanie, in the junior level individual documentary category.
“I have mixed feelings” about the next level of the competition,
Stephanie said. “I’m excited to be wandering around Washington and
all, but I’m also really nervous because there’s a lot of
competition. Whatever happens, it will be a good experience.”
Chris Mackowski explained the first round finalists will be
posted Monday, and if she’s in the finals, the winners will be
announced at the big awards ceremony on Thursday.
He also explained that as part of the national competition,
Stephanie will meet U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., on Wednesday
and will be a part of a small group to meet actor Richard Drefus,
whose hobby is history, on Tuesday. He also said they will visit
the National Archives.
“It’s a full week of things to do,” he said.
