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Contests
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Contests
Students may choose to participate in a regional contest, where they can qualify for the State contest. If they choose to compete at the State contest, they may qualify for the national contest in College Park, Maryland (This year the national contest will be virtual.). There are three divisions: Youth Division (grades 4-5), Junior Division (grades 6-8) and Senior Division (grades 9-12). Junior and Senior divisions are eligible for nationals. While contests can develop additional skills and provide helpful feedback on projects, teachers are free to participate in as much or as little of the formal contests as they desire.
A contest fee of $12 is required for each student participating in a regional contest. This fee also covers participation in the State contest if students advance from their regional contest.
Educators who judge at NHDI contests can earn PGP points.
Details on how to register to judge can be found here.
If you are interested in entering a regional contest, all educators and students should complete the registration information for the specific contest. All registration will run through the National registration system and will open at the beginning of December.
For a list of regional winners from the previous year, contact the Education team at nhdi@indianahistory.org.
Update for the 2022 Season
We have made the difficult decision to hold all regional contests virtually for the 2022 contest year. While we had hoped to gather in person for our regional contests for the sake of everyone’s health and safety, we feel it is necessary to hold the regional contests virtually.
Our goal with National History Day in Indiana is always to provide the highest quality experience for our students around the entire state. From previous experience, we know that changing formats of regional contests mid-season puts some students at a disadvantage. It can also create undue stress on teachers, students, and families alike as they wait to see changes based on the projected state of the pandemic. We will work to make the virtual contest as dynamic and meaningful as possible for all who have dedicated a year of researching, learning, and teaching about the important topics of this year’s theme. All participants, volunteers, and community members are invited to join us for the live-streamed Awards Ceremony which will be held on Facebook.
How does this change as we prepare for the regional contests:
In meeting with the student privacy needs and regulations from the National office, virtual judging will not include an interview portion. All projects will be submitted online via the Z-Fairs portal (same as the 2021 Contest Season). For details on how to submit projects virtually click here.
Contests can be a fun way to display the hard work you put into your project. If you have never been to a contest before, contests can seem daunting. On contest day, be sure to arrive early, so you have plenty of time to register and set up your project. Also, make sure to bring four copies of your process paper and bibliography for judging. It is always a good idea to bring snacks, water and activities for after your judging time.
You will also have an interview with the judges on contest day. While judges may ask any questions they have, here are some common questions to thing about before the contest.
- Why did you choose this topic?
- Could you explain how your project relates to this year’s theme?
- What was your most valuable source and why?
- How do you think your topic impacted history?
- What was the most interesting thing you learned?
- (For groups) How did you divide up the work? How did you decide on who did what?
- What was the most challenging thing about your project?
- Why did you choose to create a (paper, documentary, exhibit, website, performance)?
- As you did your research, what surprised you most about the topic?
- How did your primary sources help you understand the topic?
- How did your thesis evolve? Did it change from when you started researching to when you were assembling your project?
- What is the most important point you are trying to convey about your topic? Why?
- Why did you pick this topic?
- What were the most important factors which caused (the event in question) to occur?
- What did you learn about this topic that you didn’t know before?
- Did you find conflicting information in your sources? If so, how did you deal with this?
- Is there anything you weren’t asked that you would like to talk about? (Tip: Always say something to this question!)
Date: Saturday, February 12th
Location: Virtual
Registration opens: December 1st
Registration deadline: Monday, January 31st 11:59pm
Websites lock: Thursday, February 3rd 11:59pm
All projects and materials due: Thursday, February 3rd 11:59pm
Awards Ceremony: February 12th, 4pm Facebook Live
Date: Saturday, February 19th
Location: Virtual
Registration opens: December 1st
Registration deadline: Monday, February 7th 11:59pm
Websites lock: Thursday, February 10th 11:59pm
All projects and materials due: Thursday, February 10th 11:59pm
Awards Ceremony: February 19th, 4pm on Facebook Live
Date: Saturday, February 26th
Location: Virtual
Registration opens: December 1st
Registration deadline: Monday, February 14 11:59pm
Websites lock: Thursday, February 17th 11:59pm
All projects and materials due: Thursday, February 17th 11:59pm
Awards Ceremony: February 26th, 4pm (Facebook Live)
Date: Saturday, March 5th
Location: Virtual
Registration opens: December 1st
Registration deadline: Monday, February 21st 11:59pm
Websites lock: Thursday, February 24th 11:59pm
All projects and materials due: Thursday, February 24th 11:59pm
Awards Ceremony: March 5th, 4pm (Facebook Live)
Date: Wednesday, March 9th
Location: Virtual
Registration opens: December 1st
Registration deadline: Monday, February 28th 11:59pm
Websites lock: Thursday, March 3rd 11:59pm
All projects and materials due: Thursday, March 3rd 11:59pm
Awards Ceremony: TBD
Date: Saturday, March 12th, 2022
Location: Virtual
Registration opens: December 1st
Registration deadline: Monday, February 28th 11:59pm
Websites lock: Thursday, March 3rd 11:59pm
All projects and materials due: Thursday, March 3rd 11:59pm
Awards Ceremony: March 12th, 4pm (Facebook Live)
Date: Saturday, April 30th
Location: Marian University, Indianapolis
Websites lock: Thursday, April 21st 11:59pm
All papers, documentaries, websites, virtual exhibits due: Thursday, April 21st 11:59pm
Process papers and annotated bibliographies due: Thursday, April 21st 11:59pm
All students interested in applying for a Special Prize must submit their project virtually by Thursday April 21st regardless of project type. Click here to apply for a special prize.
*Note, if you had created a virtual exhibit for regionals, you do not need to create a physical exhibit for State. Both Physical and Virtual exhibits will be accepted at the State Contest.
Dates: Thursday, June 16th
Location: Virtual Contest
Registration deadline: Tuesday, May 17th
