Students prepare for History Day Contest

State contest set for April 29 at CCSU

HARTFORD >> Nearly 300 middle and high school students will participate in the annual Hartford Regional History Day Contest, set to take place at Capital Community College on Saturday, March 25.

Volunteer judges will assess original student exhibits, performances, documentaries, websites and papers and send the top three projects from each category to the State History Day Contest where they will compete against winners from the state’s five other regional contests. The public and media are invited to attend the competition and view student projects between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. At 12:45 p.m. Tammy Denease will provide a living history performance for attendees as she portrays the life of African-American aviation pioneer Bessie Coleman. An Awards Ceremony is scheduled to take place at 1:45 p.m. State Representative Edwin Vargas will be on hand to honor student winners.

Students representing towns and cities in the Hartford area are participating in the March 25 contest. A list of participating towns can be found here (scroll down to Hartford).

Participants will begin presenting to teams of judges at 9:30 a.m.

Signs will be displayed within the school’s halls, directing attendees where to go for particular contests. The teams of judges – consisting of local educators, historians and history lovers – will review the projects and choose the top three in each category. More information about the day’s events, including the schedule, can be found here at the program’s website. Financial support for the Hartford Regional Contest is provided by Connecticut Humanities.

Students, who have now spent months developing their projects, based their entries on this year’s National History Day® theme, Taking a Stand in History. Participants work alone or in groups and enter their project into one of five History Day categories: exhibits, documentaries, website, paper, and performance. The State History Day Contest is scheduled to take place at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain on Saturday, April 29.

Results from the Hartford Regional Contest will be posted to the Connecticut History Day website, www.historydayct.org, on Monday, March 27.

For more information on the contest and the program, contact CHD State Coordinator Rebecca TaberConover at 860.522.6766 ext. 11 or rebecca.taberconover@cga.ct.gov.

Connecticut History Day is an affiliate program of National History Day (NHD)®. It is led by the Connecticut Public Affairs Network (CPAN) with support from the Connecticut State Department of Education, Connecticut Council for the Social Studies, the Connecticut League of History Organizations, Connecticut Explored Magazine, and ConnecticutHistory.org.