NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A popular student competition getting New Mexico school kids learning about American history is now the latest victim in an avalanche of federal budget cuts. Hundreds of New Mexico middle and high school students take part in this yearly event, and said it would be a sad thing to see the competition go.
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“I love it, I love the competition, and more than just that, I love seeing how much it helps me, how much it helps these other kids in their education. Seeing that go away would just really devastate me, honestly,” said Isaac Beck, senior student at Silver High School.
The Beck brothers have been competing in the state’s “National History Day” event since the fifth grade. The yearly tradition put on by the New Mexico Humanities Council gets students learning and competing through performances, presentations, websites, and documentaries. “You get to dig deep and really go into the topic, and you will learn so much more than you will ever learn in a classroom,” said Paige Kimball, freshman student from Farmington.
But this might be the last time it happens in New Mexico, as the National Endowment for the Humanities has eliminated the grant funding for the competition through cuts from the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “So, this is a real dire situation for this program, National History Day in particular, but also other programs,” said Brandon Johnson, Executive Director of New Mexico Humanities Council.
He said the cut could spell the end of their 53-year-old organization. “If we don’t understand the past, we’re doomed to repeat it, right? And I think that’s why programs like this and other programs in the humanities are essential,” said Johnson.
Nationally, the DOGE funding cut to the “National History Day” competition itself is worth about $336,000. The New Mexico Humanities Council said it’s expecting to lose $700,000 overall. Besides National History Day, the New Mexico Humanities Council also helps fund public libraries, museums, and storytelling groups.