Student Registration

REGISTRATION OPENS: November 30, 2021

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: March 11, 2022

DEADLINE FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS: March 18, 2022

WEBSITE LOCKDOWN: March 18, 2022

FEE: $10/student

Hello Region 4 Students! We are so excited to welcome you to the Ohio History Day competition. We wish you luck with your research, and do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Please visit the General/Home Page for basic info about the OHD Region 4 Competition and our contact information. Jump to Registration FAQs for answers to your questions, Important Resources to help you out, or PowerPoint presentations for additional lessons.

**Your teacher and your school must already be registered for you to complete your registration.**
 

Before you begin your registration, you should have:

1. Your contact information

2. Contact information for a parent or guardian

3. Information about your project (title, a short description, and the category) 

Registration FAQs

1. Where can teachers and students register for the Region 4 Ohio History Day competition?

   • Teachers, students, and parents of students who are registering as independents (i.e. not through a school) can register here on our website.

2. Why do teachers or parents have to register first?

   • Students are required to select a school and teacher while registering, which is why the teacher must have an account first. If a student is registering as an independent, a parent must register first.

3. Do students have to create an account as soon as registration opens?

   • Nope! Students have until March 11, 2022 to register.

4. What if I'm a homeschooled or online student and want to participate?

   • We welcome everyone! The only requirement is that you have a teacher or parent register first. If you are homeschooled, ask your parent to create an account and add your school as “[Last Name] Homeschool” (e.g. Smith Homeschool).

5. Can students outside of Region 4 participate in the YSU competition?

   • Students must participate in the region that they go to school (if they are registering with a school) or that they live in (if they are registering as an independent). Students that do not live or go to school in Region 4 MAY NOT participate in the YSU contest.

6. The student registration requires a project title, category, and description. What if I'm still working on these?

   • Students have until March 11, 2022 to register, but don't wait until the last minute to sign up!

7. How do students register a group project?

   • All students in a group project must register individually. The first student to register in a group project will receive a team key. They should share this with their teammates, who will select "Link/Join Existing Team Project" and type in the team key when registering.

8. How do I submit a paper, documentary, or website?

   • Formatting and submission guidelines for papers and documentaries can be found on the Ohio History Day contest information page. For websites, you will be working with the NHD Web Central website, on which you must register for an account and select Group or Individual Website as the category when registering. You can also download a copy of the submission guidelines. Annotated bibliographies should be attached to the ends of papers and submitted as a single PDF.

9. My school isn't covering registration fees. How do I pay my fee?

   • *NEW! Students (with the permission/assistance of a parent) can now pay their registration fees by credit card on our contest management system site (Zfairs) through Stripe. When a student registers, the last step will ask whether the student would like to pay now (by card) or they can pay later by cash or check.

   • You can pay by cash or check up to and including the day of the contest. Checks can be made out to YSU History Day and mailed to:
        Attn: David Simonelli
        Department of History, DeBartolo Hall
        Youngstown State University
        One University Plaza
        Youngstown, OH 44555

Submission Guidelines

Important Resources

Contest Theme

• Dig deeper into this year's theme, Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences! This theme asks you to consider how people exchange information and interact with each other. Explore how methods and modes of communication have changed over time, and how they have shaped the present. 
• Theme Book
• Theme Video
• Theme Webinar

NHD Contest Rule Book *Updated July 2020* 

• Provides program overviews, and rules about every category and project. How tall can your exhibit be? How many words are required in your process paper? The answers are all in the NHD Contest Rule Book! A brief overview is available on the Contest Rules page.

Scholarship Opportunities!

• Thanks to a generous donation made by the William K. Laidlaw Jr. Memorial Endowment Fund, we are delighted to offer scholarships to cover the regional competition registration cost ($10.00) for a number of students. Click here to access the online scholarship application. The deadline for submission is Friday, February 25, 2022. Please note, any late submissions will not be accepted.  If you win a scholarship we will mark your account as paid.  If you, or your school, already paid your fee, the $10 will be refunded back to the person/school that originally paid the registration.

Region 4 Resources

• Focusing on a local history topic? Visit the local history collections and resources right in your backyard, or see what resources are available on Ohio Memory! 

Ohio History Topics

• Interested in local history? Does your community have a story to tell? Click here to access a list of potential topics provided b Ohio History Day staff. You are always welcome to explore more of your community's history. Remember, local museums, libraries, and historical societies also provide great primary and secondary sources!

PowerPoints to help with your research (click to download):

Student Resources:

Posted on: https://www.nhd.org/student-resources (click “Quick Digital Research Tips”)

Finding Primary Sources from Secondary Sources - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZs5Za84dZE&feature=emb_logo

What is an Annotated Bibliography? (overview) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmPYQ3fCKMA&feature=emb_logo

What is an Annotated Bibliography? (citations) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJfbxTmgzrQ&feature=emb_logo

What is an Annotated Bibliography? (annotations) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L159MxJNbPU&feature=emb_logo

Are you looking for more video resources? Check out NHD’s YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/nationalhistory) and look for more short-form videos coming your way later this month.

Useful links:

• Ohio History Day website
• DOCSTeach (National Archives)
• Library of Congress Digital Collections
• NoodleTools (complementary subscription for NHD teachers & students)
• Ohio Archives, Historical, and Genealogical Societies (partial list)

Are you looking for more video resources? Check out NHD’s YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/nationalhistory) and look for more short-form videos coming your way later this month.

Teacher Registration

REGISTRATION OPENS: November 30, 2021

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Friday, March 11, 2022

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Friday, March 18, 2022

WEBSITE LOCKDOWN: Friday, March 25, 2022

Welcome, Ohio History Day Teachers! Youngstown State University has hosted the Region 4 competition for 46 years, and we are thrilled to welcome students from Ashtabula, Geauga, Mahoning, Portage, and Trumbull Counties for another competition year.

Please remember you must be registered before any of your students can register. If your school is not listed during registration, please finish registering, add the school under "Create Account", and add the school to your profile. You can monitor your students’ registration once you have registered.

Registration FAQs 

1. Where can teachers and students register for the Region 4 Ohio History Day competition?

   • Teachers, students, and parents of students who are registering as independents (i.e. not through a school) can register here on our website.

2. Why do teachers or parents have to register first?

   • Students are required to select a school and teacher while registering, which is why the teacher must have an account first. If a student is registering as an independent, a parent must register first.

3. What if my school isn’t listed?

   • The list of schools is preloaded from a government database and often doesn’t include private schools. If your school is not listed, you will need to add it before or after registering as a teacher or parent by selecting “Create Account” > “School” > “Register New School.” Complete the form and click “Save.”

   • If you already registered as a teacher or parent, go to your profile and select your newly added school under the “Teacher” tab. Click “Save.”

4. Do students have to create an account as soon as registration opens?

   • Nope! Students have until March 11, 2022 to register.

5. Can students from my school outside of my classroom register?

   • Yes! The only requirement is that they be linked to a teacher from their school. Tell them to select your name when registering.

6. Is there a requirement for the number of students who participate?

   • Nope! Teachers can have a single student, a handful of students, or a whole class register. The only requirement is that a teacher be registered so the student(s) can link their project to their teacher/school.

7. Can teachers and students outside of Region 4 participate in the YSU competition?

   • Students must participate in the region that they go to school (if they are registering with a school) or that they live in (if they are registering as an independent). Students that do not live or go to school in Region 4 MAY NOT participate in the YSU contest.

8. The student registration requires a project title, category, and description. What if they are still working on these?

   • Students have until March 11, 2022 to register, but don't wait until the last minute to sign up!

9. How do students register a group project?

   • All students in a group project must register individually. The first student to register in a group project will receive a team key. They should share this with their teammates, who will select "Link/Join Existing Team Project" and type in the team key when registering.

10. How do I pay the registration fee?

    • *NEW! Students (with the permission/assistance of a parent) can now pay their registration fees by credit card on our contest management system site (Zfairs) through Stripe. When a student registers, the last step will ask whether the student would like to pay now (by card) or they can pay later by cash or check.

    • Teachers and/or parents can pay by cash or check up to and including the day of the contest. Checks can be made out to YSU History Day and mailed to:

              Attn: David Simonelli

                History Program, DeBartolo Hall

                Youngstown State University

                One University Plaza

                Youngstown, OH 44555

Contest Theme

Please refer to the Contest Rules page for the National History Day Rule Book and a brief overview of category requirements. Additional useful documents:

• 2022 theme book: Debate and Diplomacy in History
• 2022 Ohio history topic ideas
• 2022 graphic organizer

Submission Guidelines

Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions! Our contact information is on the General/Home Page.

Ohio History Day Judging

YSU Region 4 Contest: Saturday, April 2, 2022

State Contest: Saturday, April 23, 2022

National Contest: June 12-16, 2022 (virtual)

About Judging:

OHD Judges are crucial to competition day by providing constructive feedback on student projects. 

You do NOT have to be an "expert" historian to be an Ohio History Day Judge. However, if you have an interest in history and would like to inspire future historians, then you are in the right place!

Volunteers can judge papers, exhibits, documentaries, performances, and websites at the junior and senior levels.

While we aim to assign you to the category you request during registration, sometimes we must assign you elsewhere due to need.

Judge Registration:

Click "Create Account" from the top navigation menu and select "judge."

When registering, please provide us information about you to allow us to evaluate what community groups are participating in History Day, such as your current/past occupations, any university affiliations, your student status (if applicable), interest in history, etc.

A good history day judge:

Likes talking to students

Asks open-ended questions

Gives constructive feedback

Remains objective while assessing subject matter

Works in teams to find consensus

Judges Toolkit and training videos can be found here!

Questions?

Contact the AmeriCorps History Day Asst. Coordinator, Jessica Baloun at

jbaloun-guest@ysu.edu