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Judging For History Day

“Thank you to all the students. At the heart of the program, it’s all about you. You taught me how priceless this work is.”

We Invite You to Judge! 

Serving as a judge for one of our Hawaiʻi History Day District Fairs or at our State Fair is a wonderful way to become involved with the Hawaiʻi History Day program. Your work as a judge has a direct impact on our students. 

If you’d like to become a judge for one of our District Fairs, click below  to sign up:


Qualifications to Judge:

“The judges we encountered really made my daughter feel like she could do it.” Parent

Our judges are enthusiastic about history and our youth, and have some college-level experience in research, and can give helpful, encouraging feedback to our students. Hawaiʻi History Day judges have:

  • An interest in history and ability to follow a written rubric to evaluate projects
  • Ability and willingness to give kind, constructive, written feedback on student projects
  • Ability and willingness to do short (5 minute) interviews with students on their projects
  • Ability and willingness to consult and make decisions with fellow judges on student projects
  • Parents are welcome to judge, but will not be assigned to judge their children’s projects
  • Teachers from participating schools may judge, but will not be assigned to judge their own students’ projects

Things to Consider: 

“Seeing student work, I felt so empowered. The experience really energized and inspired me.” –History Day Judge

  • Judges work in teams with 2-3 judges per team
  • There will be online ZOOM orientation sessions for judges 
  • Essay or Website projects are judged online from February 17 to the day of your District Fair
  • Documentary, Exhibit, or Performance projects are judged at the District Fair
  • For Documentaries, Exhibits, and Performances, you must be available to come to your District Fair in-person to judge
  • If you would like to Judge Documentary, Exhibit, or Performance projects for State Fair, you must be available to come to the State Fair in-person. State Fair Essay or Website projects can be judged online prior to the Fair

Please ensure the email you use is able to receive communications from us! We will send reminders about the contest and judge training. If you’re not sure, shoot us an email at historyday@hihumanities.org and we will verify for you. In the meantime, please take a look at these judge materials. More resources can be found on our judge resource page! 


Hawaiʻi History Day Category Evaluation Forms and Contest Rule Book