From Local School to Regional Fair
Any student in grades 5-12 who attends a public, private, charter, parochial, military, or home school within the fourteen-county Central Texas region is eligible to enter the Heart of Texas Regional History Fair (HOTRHF).
The best way for students to participate in the regional fair is by competing in a local history fair. Teachers play an important role in organizing a local fair, helping students create projects, and serving as sponsors as their students move from local to regional competition.
All students participating in a regional fair must first have their work evaluated at the local level by a teacher using the National History Day criteria and rubrics. Home-schooled students are encouraged to work with their local associations or consortiums to set up such evaluations or local fairs. At any school which does not hold a schoolwide history fair, teachers may hold a small fair in the classroom, giving classmates a chance to view and critique each others' projects and selecting winners to advance to the regional fair.
Students who wish to compete should talk to their teachers, counselors, and principals if their school does not offer a local fair. Contact the HOTRHF office for more help. Likewise, 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.
Keep in mind that each school may bring to HOTRHF a maximum of three project entries for each of the regional fair's categories in the junior (grades 6-8) and senior (grades 9-12) divisions, and five projects per school in the fifth grade division. For more information about how to maximize student participation in the regional fair, click here.
Be sure to complete your local history fair and have student projects judged and selected for advancement before the registration deadline for the regional fair.
HOTRHF NOTE: this page is current and up to date for 2015.