For rules concerning the Brazos Valley Regional History Fair, please contact Jordan Lucier at jordan.lucier@thc.texas.gov .

Over 200 students go through the Brazos Valley Regional History Fair every February.  The top two finishers in each category move on to Texas History Day in April.  Each year thousands of students, encouraged by teachers and parents statewide, participate in the National History Day program in Texas.  

Each student bases their project on the same annual theme and rule book. Students choose historical topics related to a theme and conduct extensive primary and secondary research at libraries, archives, museums, historic sites, and more. Projects are not limited to any particular time period or geographic area. After analyzing and interpreting their source material, create a plan to present their findings to the peers and teachers before moving on to regional, state, and possibly national contests. Students can create and present original research papers, exhibits, performances, websites, and documentaries.

The Brazos Valley Regional History Fair provides the opportunity for students to:

• Build self-confidence
• Practice public speaking
• Learn research skills
• Cultivate critical thinking 
• Develop analytical skills

Setup Needed...

What to Expect During the contest

Judging Process

How does the judging process work?
Each separate division and category is judged as a whole by a team of three judges. Due to the number of entries, run-off rounds may be required. In such cases, the entries judged best by each team of initial judges are judged by a new team of judges to determine the winning entries in the category. The number of entries in a run-off and procedures for run-off judging vary by contest and category.

Consensus judging
Judges will not assign a numerical score to each entry; instead, they will rank the entries in their group. Judges are required to consult with each other in determining individual rankings. Judges are allowed to review the results of their category upon completion of the judging in order to ensure accuracy of the judging process. As a final step, the judges will assign each entry an overall ranking.

Judging Criteria
All projects must be connected to the NHD annual theme. Additionally, all projects must adhere to general and category specific rules set out in the NHD Contest Rule Book. Any rule infraction will be taken into consideration in the final rankings. Projects are judged on the overall following criteria:

• Historical Accuracy (80%)
• Relation to Theme (20%)

Click here to view sample evaluation sheets.

The subjective nature of judging
Judges evaluate each entry as objectively as possible, although the BVRHF recognizes there is an inherent subjective nature to judging. 

The decision of the judges is final
All involved (students, parents, and teachers) should realize that inadvertent inequities might occur in judging. HOTRHF officials want to be informed of any problems, but the decisions of the judges are final.

Please take a few moments to watch this excellent overview of the judging process that was put together by Minnesota History Day.