Connecticut History Day Students Compete for Trip to National Contest: 400 Middle & High School Students Participating | Saturday, April 29 at CCSU

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April 19, 2017
Contact: Chris Zaccaro
chris.zaccaro@cga.ct.gov

New Britain – On Saturday, April 29 over 400 history-loving students will compete for a chance to represent the state at the 2017 National History Day® Contest when they present their projects at the annual Connecticut History Day (CHD) State Contest taking place at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

Middle and high school students who placed within the top three in their category at one of the state’s six regional contests will be competing at the day-long event where over 70 Connecticut schools will be represented. Participants, who have spent months researching and developing projects based on an historical topic of their choice, will present their work to teams of volunteer judges consisting of museum professionals, educators, historians and history lovers.

Students in grades 6-12 are eligible to participate in Connecticut History Day (CHD) and must relate their project to this year’s national theme: Taking a Stand in History. CHD students may work individually or in groups within the five History Day categories: Papers, Documentaries, Exhibits, Websites, and Performances. Students whose projects place within the top two in their category at the CHD State Contest will be invited to represent Connecticut at the National History Day® Contest taking place at the University of Maryland in June. Additionally, over twenty special prizes sponsored by numerous museums and non-profit organizations from across the state will be presented to students at the CHD Awards Ceremony taking place 3:30 p.m. in Welte Auditorium on the CCSU campus. The First Company Governor’s Foot Guard will kick-off the ceremony with a rousing performance. CHD State Coordinator Rebecca Taber-Conover, Education Commissioner Dr. Dianna Wentzell and CCSU History Professor Dr. Matthew Warshauer will be on hand to present awards to students.

Participants will begin presenting their projects at 9:30 a.m. Most of the judging will take place in the Social Sciences building, with the exception of the Exhibit Competition which is taking place in Davidson Hall. The public and media are welcome to watch website, performance, and documentary presentations throughout the morning – as well as sit in on the two paper seminars taking place at 10 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. The Exhibit Hall will open to the public at 12:30 p.m. Judging will conclude by 2:30 p.m. Central Connecticut State University will be providing campus tours to parents and students throughout the day and Hartford-based artist Tang Sauce will perform his unique sound of old school hip-hop flow with new school perspective at 2:15 p.m. near the Dance Performance Building.

Connecticut History Day is an affiliate program of National History Day®. The program 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. To learn more about CHD, visit the program’s website www.historydayct.org and follow CHD on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.