Chicago Metro History Day

Where Students Make History!

Chicago Metro History Day, formerly known as the Chicago Metro History Fair, is a project-based inquiry program that empowers students to become historians who conduct research and share their conclusions. Guided by their teachers, students in grades six through twelve choose their own topics connected to an annual theme, and then conduct research, analyze sources, make an argument, and finally produce a project to show their work. Students make websites, performances, documentaries, papers, and exhibitions which are evaluated by community volunteers at annual competitions in the Chicago metro area. This rigorous and rewarding program prepares students for high school and college expectations and helps young people become informed, engaged citizens. Come make history with us!

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News and Opportunities

June 12, 2025

2025 National Teacher of the Year

Maine South teacher Michael Biondo received the 2025 National Teacher of the Year Award at the National History Day Contest, which took place June 8–12, 2025, at College Park, Maryland.

Michael Biondo has served as a social science teacher since 2003 and as an instructional coach since 2009 at Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. He has cosponsored the school’s Hawk PRIDE student leadership, orientation, and mentor program since 2018. As a US history teacher, he has sponsored the school’s Chicago Metro History Day/Illinois History Day program since 2004.

Biondo earned master’s degrees in history from Northeastern Illinois University and in school leadership from Concordia University Chicago, where he is currently a PhD candidate in educational leadership. In 2015, he was named the Illinois Digital Educators Alliance (IDEA) “Educator of the Year.” In 2016, he was named the Illinois National History Day high school teacher of the year. Biondo has served as co-director of an action research cohort and has presented at conferences on staff development, cooperative learning, formative assessment, and classroom technology. He was a contributor to the National History Day and Library of Congress publication “Finding, Analyzing, and Constructing History: A Research Guide for Students,” and he was a master teacher for the Chicago History Museum’s TPS project related to the publication. Biondo has also served as the director of teacher support for the NEH summer institute “Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms.”

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Our Sponsors

Chicago Metro History Day, a program of the Chicago History Museum, is made possible by participating History Day schools and the generosity of area organizations and individual donors. We gratefully acknowledge support provided by Busey Bank, HBK Engineering, the Minow Family Foundation in honor of Josephine Baskin Minow, and the University of Illinois Chicago. Additional programmatic support is provided by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Program, the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, the Latin School of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University Libraries, and our many prize sponsors. Chicago Metro History Day is a regional affiliate of National History Day.

Support from donors makes it possible for Chicago Metro History Day to reach more than 10,000 students annually from numerous schools in the Chicagoland area. Help us spark a lifelong love of history through this wonderful program. Consider making a gift today.