Sierra Vista Students Raise Funds to Bring Teacher to National History Day Championship

Sierra Vista Middle School students and coaches at state championship

Audrey Kim contacted Irvine Community News & Views (ICNV) to ask for our help with a very special fundraising project. And, of course we said “Yes!”

Audrey is an eighth-grader at Sierra Vista Middle School and is one of eight Irvine students to have won the California National History Day competition. National History Day is a nationwide social studies program that challenges over 500,000 middle and high school students across America each year to develop their history research skills.

The Sierra Vista Middle School students will be traveling to the University of Maryland in early June where they will be representing California in the finals. The students naturally want their history teacher/coach, Mr. Millers, to join them at the national competition. However, due to budget cuts Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) is unable to cover the travel costs for their teacher.

That didn’t deter the resourceful Sierra Vista students who launched a Go Fund Me page which ICNV was happy to share with our 62,000 Facebook followers. The students also reached out to TV stations, which featured their story on local news outlets.

Through Audrey’s outreach efforts, the students were able to share their message widely — raising nearly $5,000 in a matter of days to cover all travel costs for their teacher!

Audrey says: “The National History Day competition has helped us understand leadership skills, build our confidence, and refine our critical thinking and research skills. Teachers, as you know, provide the mentorship and guidance we need to go through this rigorous process, and having a teacher/coach with us will provide this encouragement.”

Everyone here at ICNV congratulates Audrey and the entire Sierra Vista team. We also want thank each and every community member who donated to this wonderful cause!