Photos by CHRISTINA O'CONNOR Special to The Roanoke Times

Sixth-graders (from left) Brittany Leitch, Amy Walters, Haylee Simpkins and Lyndee Weaver sip tea in front of their Boston Tea Party exhibit in the basement of Muse Hall at Radford University. The exhibits were a part of the National History Day competition.

Sixth-graders included a pot of tea in their Boston Tea Party exhibit.

RADFORD -- The puffiness of the maroon-and-gold Victorian-style dress overwhelmed Kelly Kadlec's slight frame as she took to the stage Wednesday, but the 11-year-old disregarded the weight.

She promptly adopted an Elizabethan accent to portray one of her favorite historical figures.

"I like the idea of being someone I'm not," the seventh-grader at the Blacksburg New School said.

Kelly was one of the students who performed a historical lesson during the region's National History Day competition at Radford University.

History is Kelly's favorite subject. She said she has an affinity for the Elizabethan period and its "independent" queen.

"This is so much fun and I love it," she said after performing her 10-minute selection on the life of the queen.

Students such as Kelly are perfect for the history day, said judging coordinator Kurt Gingrich, a history professor at Radford.

To be in the Region 3 competition, students throughout Southwest Virginia researched a history project and chose to either present the research through a performance, a paper, an exhibit, a documentary or -- new this year -- a Web site. Some of the students had worked on their research since the fall.

Organizers of the competition, whose winners will proceed to a national event in June, tried to put a high-tech spin on the traditional history fair. Still, of the more than 100 students who competed, most presented their research via a trifold exhibit or in a paper.

Students at Blacksburg Middle School created the only Web site entries. Adrienne Rogers, who was part of a three-girl team who put together their site on Helen Keller, said the technology forced her to learn more.

"When you make a Web site you have to split it up in categories, and that way you know where everything is supposed to go," she said.

Although Adrienne's father helped with some of the Web tools, the girls said they'd choose an online presentation over any other form in the future. That way, they can use their site as a source for a paper, Danielle Godfrey said.

For audiences outside of the classroom, Web sites can mean a broader view of historical facts. Gingrich said.

"It's beautiful. It's a great thing because it teaches the students how to package history so the public can access it," he said.