E Komo Mai,
Thank you for being part of our Hawaiʻi History Day community! HIHumanities is committed to the practice of telling, re-telling, and listening to all our stories. Hawaiʻi History Day helps our young people engage with history on a deeper and richer level and as judges you are promoting these connections that will shape their lives into the future. Here you can find links to guides that help explain the judging process.
Priority Links
Signing Up and Registering
Training and Contest Judging Resources
- 2023 Orientation Slides
- 2023 Community Award List
- Community Awards Video
- Sample Interview Questions
- Judge Cost Share Form
2023 Theme Resources
Other Resources: These links give you a good overview the History Day process:
- Advice to Hawaiʻi History Day Judges
- Hawaiʻi History Day Evaluation Help Guide
- NHD Start Feedback Ideas
Hawaiʻi History Day 2022 Categories Evaluation Forms
- 2022 Documentary Evaluation Form
- 2022 Exhibit Evaluation Form
- 2022 Paper Evaluation Form
- 2022 Performance Evaluation Form
- 2022 Website Evaluation Form
- 2022 Evaluation Form: All Categories
Thank you so much again for your time, energy, and support. See you soon!
Videos for Judges
Our judge videos are delivered by Honolulu Community College Professor Cynthia Smith, a long time Hawaiʻi History Day consultant. We hope these video resources can help judges with the different components of judging in Hawaiʻi History Day.
The following video gives a basic overview of Hawaiʻi History Day and your role in this program.
As mentioned in the above video, Hawaiʻi History Day has 5 categories: Essays, Websites, Exhibits, Documentary Videos, and Performance. Click on the category to download a pdf specifying judging criteria for each medium.
In part 2 of our video series, you can find out about your responsibilities as a judge.
We removed parts 3 and 4, as we changed our format this year. You can skip ahead!
We all love feedback, right? Not really. Many of us have a really hard time hearing criticism, even when it is meant to be constructive and a number of our participants are as young as 9 years old. How can we give critique that is genuine, yet compassionate? Professor Smith gives you some criteria for feedback in part 5.
Everything has rules. Hawaiʻi History Day has them too. Watch part 6 to get a solid understanding or rule compliance.
Hawaiʻi History Day participants have to deal with a lot of different components as part of their projects. Part 7 gives an overview of how to approach some of those components, like bibliographies and process papers.
Because feedback is a critical aspect of the Hawaiʻi History Day program, you can find out more about this process in part 8.
In part 9 of our video series, find out more resources that are available to you as a Hawaiʻi History Day judge.
Last but not least, please see this video on how to register in the NHD system and how to use the NHD judge portal to evaluate Hawaiʻi History Day Projects.
*Click here for pdf formatted instructions
*Thank you to Professor Smith for taking the time to script and narrate these videos and to Dorian Langi for editing them. Shout out to Windward Community College for lending their studio space for filming.
Sign Up to be a History Day Judge!
Become A History Day Judge!
You can help Hawaiʻi students to learn, grow, and succeed. Sign up to be a judge for Hawaiʻi 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.”
History Day 2022–2023: Every year for history day, a theme is chosen for students to follow as they do their history day projects. Judges need to be aware of this theme and judge accordingly. The theme for 2022–2023 is “Frontiers in History: People, Places, and Ideas.” Students showcase their projects in historical interpretation and research, producing essays, display boards, websites, performances, and documentaries.
“The judges we encountered really made my daughter feel like she could do it.” –Parent
The Role of Judges–History Day judges support students by evaluating student research and presentations and offering their expertise through comments and feedback. They become active members in the sharing of history.
“Seeing student work, I felt so empowered. The experience really energized and inspired me.” –History Day Judge
Judging for Hawai’i History Day–Judges have a profound impact on History Day, and they gain much in return. Dedicating their time and energy, judges connect with students, serve their community, and learn about history. In doing so, they gain new perspectives, insights, and inspiration.
Hawaiʻi History Day Judges:
- Volunteer at one of Eight district competitions in February-March or the state competition in April
- Work in teams to view projects, ask questions, and provide written feedback to students
- Be inspired and energized By Student Work