The following instructions will walk you through the process of registering to judge using the
online Zfairs contest system. For further questions, contact
Toni Shipp at tshipp@indianahistory.org or NHDI@indianahistory.org.

1.  To register to judge for a National History Day in Indiana contest, judges will click on the
   link to the contest they wish to judge, which will take them to the homepage of the
   contest. On the homepage, judges will be prompted to create an account. To create an
   account, find the Create Account section and enter your name and email address. Check
   the box next to “I’m not a robot” and click the “Create Account” button after entering
   your information to begin registration.
2. Next, you will be asked to select a registrant type. The options will be student, teacher,
   judge, volunteer, or staff. Judges will select “Judge” to continue registering as a judge.
3.  Judges will then fill out their personal contact information: address, city, zip code,
   phone number, and will create a password for their account. A username will be
   generated for you, or you can type your own username. Important: make note of
   the username and password to your account as you will need to login again when you
   come back to the page to access projects and judge.
4.  Next, you will be prompted to answer additional questions so we can assign you to the
   correct team! First, select your top three choices for project category: group or
   individual Exhibit, Documentary, Website, Paper, or Performance.
   1. Then, you will check the box if you consent to be a judging captain. Judging captains
      will be responsible for submitting the final consensus for their judging groups. One
      captain per judging group will be selected by the NHDI Coordinator based on prior
      judging experience.
   2. In the drop-down menus of the next questions, select how many years you’ve judged for
      NHDI, your preference for age group you wish to judge, and whether or not you wish to
      receive Professional Growth Points for judging (if you are an Indiana educator). There
      will also be a field where you can tell us how you learned about NHDI judging.
   3. Last, review the Statement of Fair Judging. Check the box agreeing to the statement and
      click the “Next” button.
5.  Next, you will be asked to agree to NHD permissions and waivers. Read the statements
   provided and first check the “Yes, I agree” box for statement one and then select
   “Yes” or “No” for statement two. You must submit these authorizations to complete
   your registration. Click the “Save and Continue” button to save your responses.
6.  At the end, judges will see a confirmation screen. This screen will remind you of the
   username you created. From here, judges can click the “Login” button in the upper-righthand corner to log into their account.
7. If you would like to register to judge for more than one contest, login to the account you
   created while registering for the first contest. This will take you to the main judging
   page. At the top of your screen, click “Judging”, which will open a drop-down menu,
   then click “External Portal”. There you will see all the contests you are signed up to
   judge and you can apply to judge for other contests as well! Just be sure to double-check that you are applying to the right contest in Indiana, as all state affiliate contests will be listed there.

Contest judges play a vital role in the success of NHDI. Beyond choosing the projects to advance, judges provide valuable feedback for each project they judge. We are looking for judges who have a background in history, education, media, museums, libraries, etc., and who want to share their love of learning with Indiana students.

At the NHDI state contest, participants may receive special prizes sponsored by cultural institutions around the state. Each award comes with specific criteria that a student must meet, in order to win the prize. These criteria may be narrowly or broadly defined, targeting a specific topic, grade level, project category or social issue. Special prizes offer a chance to encourage inquiry-based learning, individuality and curiosity in young people.

For more information on National History Day in Indiana’s special award sponsorships, email Kathy Clark at kclark@indianahistory.org or call (317) 234-7641.