History Day is all about the students; it challenges them to work hard and make a finished product they can be proud of, and it teaches them about history in the process. Achieving the goals expected of a participant can be tough, especially without any help. We've included some links to certain sections of the National History Day site to help you with official rules, as well as our own tips to help you stay on track.

Getting started is often the hardest part of any massive project such as History Day. We and the National History Day site have a few references to help you, including access to a normally password-protected library resource. For our tips on researching in Pinellas County, written by Mr. Kay, read his How to Research guide. For NHD's general tips on creating a project from start to finish, go here.

As an alternate student resource, you might want to check out the Florida State History Fair page.

For his research and world history classes, Mr. Kay has set a series of due dates for work leading up to History Day. 

Task                                                    Due Date                                              Grade equivalent

Topic Chosen                           Sept. 2                                                             Quiz

Biblio and NoteCards               October  17^th                                                   Test

Outline                                     November 11                                                  Homework

Rough Draft                              December 5^th                                                  Test                 

Final Draft                       Pinellas History Fair: Feb 7^th             Double Test Grade

When all is said and done, History Day is about competing to present the best historical project possible. For nearly all serious students, especially first-time participants, this is a daunting task. The event itself takes control of one, or several, buildings to showcase all the various types of exhibits and projects. Separate rooms and areas are designated for each project type; all the exhibits will likely be in one room, and documentaries will be shown in another documentary-specific room. Each student will be given a judging time, and they'll have roughly fifteen minutes to impress their judges with their project. Results of the contest, including trophies, ribbons, and/or prizes, are given out at the end of the day.

Since History Day itself is a national program, it has a standardized set of rules and requirements. All students are also required to have certain documents such as an annotated bibliography and a process paper. Learn about the rules and regulations straight from NHD by following the links below.