RIO GRANDE — Area students in this year’s History Day event at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College will have the opportunity to compete for a cash prize if their projects have Welsh themes.

The Madog Center for Welsh Studies at Rio Grande is offering a $200 prize for the best project that is related to Welsh culture and history.

Rio Grande will host the District 9 History Day competition on Saturday. The contest will be held in Bob Evans Farms Hall, and all area residents are invited to stop in during the day and look over the numerous projects.

Students in grades 6-12 from schools all across the region take part in the History Day contest, and they are eligible to advance to statewide and national History Day competitions. Students at the Rio Grande History Day contest have traditionally done very well at the state and national competitions.

The theme for this year’s contest is “The Individuals in History: Actions and Legacies,” and all of the projects will be related to this theme. Students are able to complete their history projects in several ways including writing papers, putting on group performances, creating PowerPoint presentations, creating individual exhibits and making documentaries.

Jeanne Jindra, director of the Madog Center for Welsh Studies, explained that the Madog Center prize is a way to encourage area students to learn more about Welsh culture and history while completing their projects for History Day. In order to be eligible for the prize, students are able to do projects on important individuals from Welsh history, and they are able to look at a wide range of Welsh topics.

Welsh culture has had a big impact on southern Ohio, and it is important for area students to learn about the culture. It does not matter if the students have a Welsh background or if they even know much about the Welsh culture, the Madog Center would like to see them do projects that look at Welsh themes.

The Madog Center is dedicated to studying and promoting the Welsh culture, and is involved with numerous Welsh-American activities on campus and in the community each year. The Madog Center also coordinates an exchange program with Trinity College each year. This program allows students from Rio Grande to spend the fall semester studying at Trinity College in Carmarthen, Wales, and then allows the Trinity College students to study at Rio Grande in the spring semester.

This year, 11 students from Trinity College are spending the spring semester at Rio Grande, and are even putting on an original play, “Lonesome Valley,” by Jackson native Brooks Jones.

The students in the Phi Alpha Theta history honor society at Rio Grande help to coordinate History Day each year and also assist with the judging.

For more information on the Madog Center’s prize at the History Day competition, call Jindra at 1-800-282-7201. For additional information on History Day, call Rio Grande faculty members Ellen Brasel or Scott Beekman, also at (800) 282-7201. For more information on upcoming events at Rio Grande, log onto www.rio.edu.