Participate

Welcome to the Heart of Texas Regional History Fair (HOTRHF)! By participating in the HOTRHF, you are participating in National History Day.

Register today!
Ready to sign up? Visit the HOTRHF registration page starting December 18 to get started!

Who can participate?

Any student in grades 4-12 who attends a public, private, charter, parochial, military, or home school within the 14-county Central Texas region is eligible to enter the Heart of Texas Regional History Fair.

4^th and 5^th graders can compete in the HOTRHF and advance to Texas History Day but cannot advance to National History Day. 4^th and 5^th graders can only compete in the poster category, either individual or group, and will be judged as a separate division. All posters are required to follow all rules as laid out in the NHD Contest Rule Book and any additional HOTRHF requirements (i.e. registration, exhibit set up time, and scheduling, etc.).

5^th Grade entries are also eligible for Special Awards.

Local Fairs
All HOTRHF participants must first have their work evaluated at the local level by a teacher using the National History Day criteria and rubrics. Local history fairs are usually classroom, school, or district wide contests, depending on the specific school. Home-schooled students/parents are encouraged to work with their local associations or consortiums to set up local fairs. Local history fairs should be completed before the registration deadline for HOTRHF.

What if there isn’t a local fair?
A local level fair can consist of showing the project to teachers or other adults who can give tips how the project can be improved. Teachers who need more information on how to organize a fair at their school or sponsor students at the regional fair are encouraged to contact the HOTRHF office. Please contact the HOTRHF office if the student is not attending a regional school or if the student's regional school is not competing at HOTRHF.

How to Participate

Participating in the HOTRHF is an exciting journey. Listed below is a guide on how to participate in our fair.

Speak with a teacher about having them be your sponsor.
Consult the National History Day annual theme and Contest Rule Book. It is important to be familiar with the requirements before you proceed, especially since a new theme is chosen each year and rules are periodically amended.
Choose a topic. Any topic in any era of local, regional, state, national, or world history is acceptable, as long as it clearly relates to the annual theme.
Choose a category for presentation. There are 5 categories to choose from:

Paper
Exhibit
Performance
Documentary
Website (All websites must be created in NHD WebCentral.)

Choose to work alone or in a group.

Conduct research using both primary and secondary sources. See our Resources page for more information on available sources.
Create project. Make sure that all NHD rules are followed by reviewing the rule book and sample evaluation sheets. Additionally, here are examples of past NHD winning projects as well as THD’s Five Keys to History Day Success to help create your project.

Important Reminder

The HOTRHF limits the number of entries per school in this way: no more than three entries per category for each division. Each school may bring up to 27 entries per division. If your school has students in grades qualifying for both divisions, 54 entries can be submitted. Due to the fact that group sizes can range from two to five students, the actual number of students may vary. All students must declare a grade level and compete within their division. Students are not allowed to compete outside of their division.

The chart below outlines the maximum number of projects and students that we can accept from each school. Please keep in mind that this is the maximum allowed, not a requirement or a suggested amount.