History Day competition to be held at Southeast

A History Day competition at Southeast Missouri State for junior-high and high-school level students will be held in UC.

For 20-plus years, the history department at Southeast Missouri has hosted a competition for history day for junior-high and high-school students. According to assistant professor of history and History Day judge, Adam Criblez, History Day is the equivalent of a science fair.

Students put together exhibits, write a historical paper, film a documentary, make a website or put together a performance about a particular event in history. Students are able to work individually or in groups of five members. The top three students from each group can move on to a state-level and then a national-level competition.The state-level competition is held in Jefferson City, Missouri and the national-level competition is held in Washington D.C.

This year, History Day has 25 schools and 600 kids participating in the competition. The judging starts at 9 a.m. and typically ends at roughly 11 a.m. The judges are looking for projects that are aesthetically pleasing and have historical accuracy. The judging also includes an interview with the contestant.

“You may have somebody whose exhibit is not as great, but they’re really passionate and can explain it really well,” Criblez said.

Every year, the competition has a particular theme and this year’s theme is “Take a Stand in History.” This theme will have the students base their projects off of famous people who have advocated for history.

“I anticipate that we’ll have a lot of people talking about Rosa Parks, the civil rights movement — that’s a popular topic,” Criblez said.

The person who is considered the top high-school-level exhibit in Southeast’s competition will receive a full ride scholarship to Southeast. However, if they make it to the state- or national-level competitions, they can receive cash scholarships for universities of their choice.

The competition will be held on March 10 at the UC. The event and judging starts at 9 a.m. and typically ends at roughly 11 a.m.