History Day

The Case Department of History is the District 3 coordinator for Ohio History Day. History Day is an exciting way for students to study and learn about historical issues, ideas, people and events. This year long educational program fosters academic achievement and intellectual growth. In addition to acquiring useful historical knowledge and perspective during the series of district, state, and national competitions, students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will help them manage and use information now and in the future.

The program begins in September, at the start of the school year. Curriculum and contest materials are distributed to History Day coordinators and teachers throughout the country. In many states and districts, teachers are invited to workshops where they share ideas about how the year's theme can be most effectively addressed and also receive bibliographies and lists of possible topics. Teachers then introduce the program to their students who, in turn, choose a topic and begin their research.

Students are encouraged to choose any topic in local, national or world history and investigate its historical significance and relationship to the theme by conducting extensive primary and secondary research. After analyzing and interpreting their information, students present their findings in papers, exhibits, performances, and documentary presentations that are evaluated by historians and educators. District History Day contests are usually held in March or April. District winners then prepare for and compete at the state contests usually held in late April or early May. The top two finishers in each category at the state contest become eligible to advance to the national contest held in June at the University of Maryland at College Park.

John Vacha, Western Reserve Historical Society, (216) 721- 5722 (extn. 255), e-mail: jvacha@wrhs.org