History Fair open to students

The Heart of Texas Regional History Fair, in association with National History Day and Texas History Day, is a way for students to study history and learn about issues, ideas, people and events.

The fair will take place Feb. 7- 8, 2008, on the Baylor University campus in Waco.

Students are encouraged to choose any topic in local, national or world history and investigate its significance and relationship to an annual theme by conducting extensive research. Students then present their findings in papers, exhibits, performances, documentaries or web sites.

Entries are evaluated by historians and educators, and prizes are awarded in each category.

Any student in grades 5-12 who attends a public, private or home school within the following counties is eligible to enter: Bell, Bosque, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Hamilton, Hill, Lampasas, Limestone, McLennan, Milam, Mills, Navarro and Robertson. Participation in a school contest is required to qualify for the regional fair.

Three divisions are offered: grade 5 (individual or group exhibits only); junior division, grades 6,7 and 8; and senior division, grades 9-12. Entries in each division are judged separately at all levels of competition.

Students may enter one of eight categories: individual exhibit, group exhibit, combined individual and group interpretive web site, historical paper (individual only), individual performance, group performance, individual documentary or group documentary.

For more information, visit the website www.baylor.edu/ historyfair/.