Oregon History Day

Saturday, May 5, 2012

In 2012, the Oregon Historical Society will host Oregon History Day, part of the nationwide National History Day program. National History Day works to improve the teaching and learning of history in schools. The year long program includes a history competition that begins at the local level and culminates in a national contest at the University of Maryland in June. The competition is open to students in private, public, and home schools.

The theme for National History Day 2012 is “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.” Participating students will choose a historic topic relating to this theme, and conduct extensive primary and secondary research through libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews and historic sites. Students will then gather their research, draw their own conclusions, and present their work through one of five mediums: an original paper, website, exhibit, performance, or documentary.

The Oregon History Day contest will determine which students from Oregon advance to the national level. The competition will be held at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland on Saturday, May 5, 2012. The Oregon winners from each of the five categories will advance to compete in the national competition.

Teachers and students with questions about Oregon History Day or who would like more information about contest registration should email jordan.pahl@ohs.org.

For rules and additional information on the contest, see the resources below or visit the National History Day website.

Contest Resources:

Rule Book (PDF)

Theme Sheet (PDF)

Theme Book (PDF)

Registration Forms:

Individual Registration Form (PDF)

Group Registration Form (PDF)

Group Member Registration Form (PDF)

If you are working in a group, one group registration form should be filled out as well as an individual group member form for each person.

Forms can be mailed to the Oregon Historical Society at 1200 SW Park Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97205, Attention: Jordan Pahl.  Scanned and emailed to jordan.pahl@ohs.org or faxed to 503-221-2035. "The deadline for registration is April 1, 2012."

National History Bee and Bowl

Saturday, February 11

At Rainier Jr./Sr. High School, 28170 Old Rainier Rd., Rainier, OR

The National History Bee and Bowl, the nation's fastest growing academic quiz tournaments, are coming to Oregon for the first time in early 2012! On Saturday, February 11, the Oregon History Bee (for individual students) and the Oregon History Bowl (for teams of 3-6 students) will be contested. The History Bee and Bowl are exciting, buzzer-based competitions that through comprehensive questions seek to reinforce a rigorous history curriculum and promote an appreciation of the study of history. Open to any school with any grades in the 6-12 range, the Bee and Bowl feature a Varsity division for 11th and 12th graders, and a Junior Varsity division for younger students. The top teams and students will then qualify to take part in the National Championships in Washington, DC and Northern Virginia from April 27-29. At the National Championships, students play at the Smithsonian, Mount Vernon, the International Spy Museum, historic sites, and even embassies! Last year's inaugural National Championships featured 98 teams, including 3 from neighboring Washington state - let's hope the top Oregon schools will take part this year too!

More Information: http://www.historybee.com/regionalsite/oregon/