Student documentary wins a gold medal at national contest
July 6, 2011
The way incoming sophomore Samhita Karnati can put together a documentary film on a controversial topic seemed to impress a lot of people last month. And based on the praise from her teachers and contest organizers, the young Sammamish resident might have some bragging rights.
Samhita, who just finished ninth grade at Redmond Junior High School, capped a busy and high-achieving academic year when she received a gold medal award at the National History Day contest June 16 at the University of Maryland. She earned first place among 86 entries in the Senior Individual Documentary category and was awarded a $5,000 scholarship from the History Channel, according to the event website and her family.
- Samhita Karnati, right, of Sammamish, poses with Kimm Jensen, her Redmond Junior High School history teacher, after winning a gold medal at the National History Day contest award ceremony June 16 at the University of Maryland. Contributed
“It felt really to good win,” she said. “I was so nervous the previous night, I think I (finally) slept at 3:30 a.m.”
Although Samhita was nervous and unsure of her documentary’s fate the night before, she cruised through the school year focused and with complete confidence she would create a winning project.
“Her research is of the quality that university professors hope to see from their best students,” said Randy Schnabel, coordinator of the North Puget Sound Regional History Day.
Samhita produced a 9-minute-50-second documentary about the plight of Native American fishing rights in Washington. Her entry, “What Was Promised? Northwest Indian Fishing Rights Debated,” explains the fishing-rights controversy between Native American tribes and the state of Washington in the early- to mid-1900s. It covers the historical context — the original fishing treaty — and the final outcome of the case and features interviews with former U.S. Senator and Washington Attorney General Slade Gorton, Dr. Barbara Lane, an anthropologist and key witness in the 1974 U.S. v. Washington, as well as Alvin Ziontz, the attorney who represented the Indian tribes in the case.
“The most interesting part was the interviews,” Samhita said. “You learn about their experiences too. It was inspiring to learn about their experiences.”
Schnabel highlighted that the organization encourages students to use primary sources to help create their own historical interpretations.
“I was immediately impressed that she had been able to interview Slade Gorton and Alvin Ziontz, opponents during the U.S. Supreme Court Indian fishing rights case, U.S. v. Washington,” he said. “Seeing those two participants onscreen made me think that here was a student who was really serious about getting the best sources and careful, as well, to show more than one side to a debate.”
Samhita, who will attend Redmond High School, is a well-spoken rising 10th-grader who carries herself more like a focused and considerate college student, according to Jensen’s observations.
Inspired to improve her storytelling skills, she set her sights on making the national competition in eighth grade after doing the History Day project completely on her own as a seventh-grader. Competing against the work of students in ninth- through 12th-grade Samhita’s documentary beat out 15 others at the regional competition March 18. And she placed first out of 17 entrants in her category at the May 7 state contest, heading to nationals as one of only two finalists in her category, Schnabel said.
“She is truly the story of a girl that just did not quit,” Jensen said. “She was like, ‘you know what, I want to do this.’”
When she fell short of making nationals, Samhita came back for her ninth-grade year with a new drive to do what it took to create a top-notch documentary. On top of taking honors and advanced classes, participating in swim team and organizing Honor Society causes at Redmond Junior High, Samhita again did the entire project outside of class. She consulted with Jensen for help editing the video and ultimately spent more than 250 hours interviewing, researching and creating the documentary.
“She fell in love with the whole process. And she never actually missed any due dates for my (honors history) class,” Jensen said. “This was just one of those things that she had this passion for. She’s driven. She wanted to go to nationals, and by golly, she did it.”
After working so hard all school year, Samhita plainly explained her drive to win the gold medal this year.
“I really wanted to get first place. It was really the drive of the competition,” she said. Next year, she hopes to help with a group entry from her school. “If I can find a good group to work with, I want to try and get first place in ‘group documentary.’”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.
