Judging
The Chicago Metro History Fair needs you! Each year, CMHF relies on volunteer judges to assess student projects! As a judge, you will evaluate historical research documentaries, performances, exhibits, websites, or papers on a wide range of historical topics produced by local students in grades 6-8 or 9-12. No experience is or special degree is necessary; new judges will be trained and paired with a veteran judge. Judging is a stimulating experience as you also learn more about history through the eyes of young people throughout Chicagoland.
Please click here to learn more about becoming a History Fair judge!
For Parents
To learn more about how to support your child’s participation in the Chicago Metro History Fair, please consult the Parent Letter in English or Spanish for more information.
Students that attend schools which do not offer the Chicago Metro History Fair are still eligible to participate in the program, as well as home schooled students. In order to participate as an Independent Scholar, submit this form.
About Us
The mission of the Chicago Metro History Fair is to spark students’ interest in the study of history, help them build high-level thinking skills, engage them in civic life, and foster their intellectual self-confidence. In discovering the past, they also come to better understand the present, and plan for the future.
History Fair students not only become historians, they also become better citizens. In conducting research, they go into the community to visit libraries, historical sites and cultural institutions, and interview people who are experts or participants in a historic event. In studying the history of their community, students learn how decisions made and actions taken in the social, cultural, economic, and political realms affect their lives.
The Chicago Metro History Fair works with teachers and students in middle grades and high school classrooms to tell Chicago’s stories and “Make History!” Public and private schools in Cook, Lake, and DuPage county participate in CMHF. Annual competitions are held in which students present their projects to the public. After spending months of researching and developing their projects, students produce exhibits, documentaries, performances, papers and websites which are presented in a series of contests. More than 500 adults volunteer each spring to serve as judges at History Fair competitions. Students may advance from their school fairs to regional, finals, statewide, and national contests. CMHF affiliates with Illinois History Day and National History Day.
Contact us
Chicago Metro History Fair
Chicago History Museum
1601 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60614
General contact: (312) 799-2153 / historyfair@chicagohistory.org
Tyler Monaghan, CMHF Manager: monaghan@chicagohistory.org
Sarah Norise, CMHF Coordinator: norise@chicagohistory.org
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