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moving to Duluth for his job, I met two students from Duluth. They were each going to attend separate high schools, but wanted to compete together, so I offered to be their coach.” This duo ended up returning to Nationals.

DeNio shared that she learns a little something from all of her students and their projects, whether they compete or not.

“I learned how Bobby Orr's innovation of the curved hockey stick impacted the number of goals scored in hockey; how the greenhouse effect was discovered in the 1800s by a woman (but never credited to her); how football helmets can be a safety item but also a weapon; how Title IX got started as a challenge to college hiring practices; and how the slave narratives of the Federal Writers Project are viewed by historians.

“I get to meet amazing students who show diligence and fortitude in such a long-term project — many are 6 months long — with 30 or more works researched and put into a project. Through it all, we can laugh together, whine together, and most of all, play off each other's enthusiasm and keep going until the project is completed.”

Inspiration

Each of these three creative women are inspired in different ways. But they all share a passion for sharing their knowledge with others.

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“I love helping my students discover their ability to create beautiful lines,” Piszczek said. “The moment when a student looks at what they’ve created and says, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I did that.’ Hearing the awe, pride and surprise in their voice and words delights my artist’s heart. My favorite, though, is when one of my student’s says or writes, ‘For the very first time, I felt like an artist. Thank you.’

“I am inspired by possibilities,” she added. “The question, ‘What if?’ motivates me. I tell my students that it is important to learn how a tangle pattern is created, and once you know that, you can do anything you want with it.”

DeNio shared: “My calling is to help teach students skills of critical thinking and research to help them in later life. I think my specialty is my excitement for the process. My favorite part of the job is when students find a resource that makes their topic real to them — a handwritten letter, a newspaper article, or an interview with an expert, that helps them see it is not ‘dry history,’ but something that affected a specific person, and has a connection with us today. That ‘aha’ moment in the student's eyes is priceless.”

Tjepkema noted: “To me, the process of exploring new ideas and ways to share that experience are an important part of the learning process for both teacher and student. My hope is to introduce students to the basics, and from there, they broaden that experience.”

“A need to make this a more beautiful place motivates me to create,” Tjepkema added. “I hope to leave a bit of myself behind.” D

Andrea Busche is a Duluth freelance writer.

Sue DeNio (left) and five National History Day qualifiers — Aedea Winter, Hannah Mason, Natalie Miller, Emma Ambrosi and Anwen Winter — meet Duluth Mayor Emily Larson (center), who was also a National History Day qualifier when she was in middle school, in June 2021.