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What Is South Dakota History Day?

National History Day is not just a day, but every day! The National History Day program is a year-long education program that culminates in a national contest every June.

For more than thirty years the National History Day program has promoted systemic educational reform related to the teaching and learning of history in America's schools. The combination of creativity and scholarship built into the NHD program anticipated current educational reforms, making National History Day a leading model of performance-based learning.

NHD is a year-long education program that engages students in grades 6-12 in the process of discovery and interpretation of historical topics. Students produce dramatic performances, imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries, websites, and research papers based on research related to an annual theme. These projects are then evaluated at local, state, and national competitions.


State Competition is rescheduled for Saturday, 27  April 2013, on the campus of South Dakota State University in Brookings SD.  The National Contest will be held at the University of Maryland, June 10 -14,2013.

The NHD program and state contest is sponsored by the South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum,  the South Dakota Humanities Council, and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC.

  The NHD 2013 Theme is "Turning Points History - People, Ideas, Events".

 

Why Participate?

Many different people participate in the NHD program:

  • Students
  • Teachers
  • Colleges and Universities
  • Libraries, Museums, and Archives
  • Community Businesses

The NHD program serves as a vehicle to teach students important literacy skills and to engage them in the use and understanding of museum and library resources. The program inspires students to study local history, and then challenges them to expand their thinking and apply knowledge of local events to the national, or even worldwide scene. The program also teaches students to become technologically literate through the use of computer and Internet research methods, and the use of technologically advanced applications in their presentations.

"The true benefits from participating in National History Day go way past a certificate or medal. The program teaches kids the writing, analytical understanding, and reading comprehension skills that will make them a success in life, no matter what their career," states parent Susan Moose.