Our History Club wanted to create a history & social studies competition this year–like a science fair, but for our field of study. Our goal is to get more students involved in “doing history” for themselves. Students are able to practice various skills while also presenting their own creative and meaningful work to an audience. Eventually, we would love to have it transformed into a true “History Fair” and open it up to the public, but until then…
This year, our club members and other interested students are able to select a history or social studies related topic they are interested in to research and submit their work based on several categories. Students must complete research, use various sources, and craft their own creative and meaningful history work.
Those interested must be a Shamokin Student in 9-12th grade. The deadline for submissions is 4/26/23. You are welcome to submit your work earlier. In fact, the earlier the better to help us organize everything for judging. Winners should be announced on *4/28/23.
Our competition will have five judges that will select a winner in each category and an overall competition winner. Our judges are not perfect. We have our own bias. Our grading scale on the rubrics are subject to interpretation. We will do our best to rate your work according to our rubrics but remember that this is partially subjective. Although we will have winners, what truly matters is your participation which demonstrates various critical skills and the production of your hard work.
To enter, see Mr. Grybos in C-120 to complete a form that includes your name, grade, project topic, category, and brief summary of what you are submitting. Once your project has the green light, you are free to start your work. Also, you are allowed to submit more than one project and submit to more than one category!
If you have any questions about how it is judged, the rubrics, or any guidelines–please see the history club’s webpage or Mr. Grybos. This year, we are trying our best to work out the kinks. But realistically, there will certainly be a learning curve on our end. We are trying to be extremely flexible and attempting to get out of your way so you can be creative without constraints. Thus, we hope we don’t need to set strict guidelines such as word amount or video duration. If and when that needs addressed, we will update our page with that information.
Key Elements to include (if/when applicable):
Provide the Historical Context
Include Multiple Perspectives
Ensure Accuracy & arguments that are Evidence-based
Use a variety of Primary Sources & Secondary Sources
Academic integrity is non-negotiable! (ex: cite your sources and avoid plagiarism)
The categories include:
Written Work such as essay’s, poems, policy proposals, infographics, create a magazine/book, etc
Presentations such as Power Points, Prezi’s, speeches, reenactments, exhibits, art work, family trees, timelines, photo essays, etc
Videos such as whether it be a talk, strictly educational, entertainment, reenactment, documentary style, interviews, vodcasts, etc
Online Technology such as a website, an app, an online database, social media campaign, virtual museum, etc
We understand that your work may overlap between more than one category. However, you will have to assign your project to one category.
Remember to submit on or before 4/26/23! We are excited to see all your hard work!
PS: Keep in mind that you will need to meet with the judges if you submission requires you (like showing us your tech, or presenting) to be in-person. We will have several days/times to meet.
