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Soon, hundreds of students throughout Georgia will descend on LaGrange for this year’s National History Day competition.

The program is for students in grades 6-12, where students conduct historical research and present their findings in various categories such as historical papers, websites, documentaries, performances and exhibits.

LaGrange College will host the West Georgia regional contest on March 1 and the state-level contest on April 26, where upwards of 500 students and over 2,000 attendees are expected.

“Students get an opportunity to become historians,” Dr. Kevin Shirley, History Professor at LaGrange College said. “They get to do historical research, and they get to investigate topics that really interest them. We’re using that to build the skills that they need to be successful in the future.”

Dr. Shirley, who helps organize LaGrange College’s part in the event, said the students can basically do their projects on any history topic they want as long as they can fit it into the annual theme.

The theme for 2025 is “Rights and Responsibilities in History,” he said,

Students can participate individually or in groups for all categories except historical papers. The top three entries in each category go to state and at the state contest, they go through a similar judging process. The top two entries in each category at the state level then qualify to go to the national contest held in June at the University of Maryland.

National History Day celebrated 50 years in 2024. LaGrange College co-sponsors National History Day in Georgia with Georgia Humanities and has hosted the West Georgia regional contest for over three decades.

Winners at each level of the competition receive medals and monetary prizes.

“Many of these students started working on their topics last August, so it represents literally a school year’s worth of work,” Shirley said.

Not only will the college host the regional competition, but this year, it will host the state competition for all of Georgia.

“Last year, we had about 470 registered students and about 2000 people, all in total, including families, teachers and judges that visited. We expect that number to go up a little bit this year,” Shirley said.

Shirley said they are set for judges for the regional contest, but state-level judges are still needed.

Anyone can be a judge, the only requirement is being interested in speaking with students about their work, Shirley said.

“We always love to have teachers. But we’re also looking for folks from across the community. You don’t have to be a historian. The only thing you have to do — the only qualification— to be a History Day judge is to be someone interested in having a conversation with students about their work,” Shirley said.

Shirley said they provide training for judges who work in teams. Each team will judge one group and interview each entry for about 10 minutes each.

“You don’t have to be a historian, you just have to be somebody who’s interested in having a conversation and talking to students about their work and what they’re passionate about,” he said.

Individuals interested in being a judge can contact Dr. Kevin Shirley at kshirley@lagrange.edu or (706) 880-8033.