Welcome to the New Jersey State Contest! All your hard work at the regional level has brought you to William Paterson's beautiful campus, where you will be competing for a chance to attend the National Contest in Maryland and take advantage of all the rich history and culture the DC Metro area has to offer.
NJ History Day...it's not just a day, it's an experience
DRAFT Agenda
New Jersey History Day - State Contest
Saturday, May 4, 2024
8:00-9:00 Information Table (University Commons/Speert Hall Lobby) Light Breakfast
Judge and Volunteer Check-in and Contest Review (University Commons/Speert Hall, Ballroom C)
8:00-9:00 Exhibits Sign-In and Set-Ip (University Commons/Speert Hall Ballrooms A & B) STUDENTS ONLY
Documentary and Performance Sign-In at assigned Documentary and Performance rooms
9:15-9:45 Opening Ceremony (Shea Center Auditorium) – Welcome
Do NOT enter until your group is together. You may not hold seats!
10:00-2:45 Judging (Public viewing of documentaries, performances & websites)
Exhibits: Rooms TBD
Documentaries: Rooms TBD
Performances: Rooms TBD
10:00 Workshop: The College Search Process
11:00 Campus Tour
12:00 William Paterson University Overview and Programs
1:00 Campus Tour
8:00-2:00 Buffet Brunch/Lunch on Your Own
10:00-2:00 William Paterson Book Store, Snacks and Merchandise, University Commons lower level
1:30 – 2:30 2020 NHD Theme Intro Workshop for Teachers and Students
3:00 Exhibit Hall opens for public viewing
3:30 Exhibits must be taken down and removed; exhibits may not be brought into Shea Auditorium.
4:00 Awards Ceremony (Shea Center Auditorium)
Lobby opens at 3pm, doors open at 3:30pm.
Do NOT enter until your group is together. You may not hold seats!
5:00 Event Concludes
Important Contest Information
Arrival
- All student sign-ins take place at assigned rooms from 8-9 AM. For documentary and performance students, sign-in sheets will be posted outside students’ assigned room. Students should put a check by their entry to show they are present. Exhibit students can go directly to the exhibit space marked with their entry number. The exhibit monitor will check in projects.
- The opening ceremony takes place at Shea Auditorium at 9:15 – we encourage everyone to attend and participate in the roll call of schools!
- Teachers only will be able to pick up their students’ t-shirts from the information table. Mugs will also be available for purchase at the info table throughout the day for $5.
Judging Hours 10:00-2:45
- During judging, documentary and performance presentations will be open to the public, but seating is limited. “Student support” seats will be reserved for students’ immediate support group (family and teachers).
- Exhibit halls will remain closed until public viewing. Only judges and those students being interviewed will be allowed in during exhibit judging.
- No audio or video recording of any student is allowed except by said student’s parents, guardians, or teachers.
Directions and Parking
Campus directions can be found at http://www.wpunj.edu/directories/directions-wpunj.dot. Lots 4 and 5 are available for car parking, are accessible from Entry 4, and do not require a permit. Buses may drop off students at the drop-off area in front of Lot 5 by the Campus Center, accessible from Entry 4, but must park in Lot 6.
Dining
There are many great dining options available within the campus center. For more information, visit the WPU Hospitality website: https://www.wpunj.edu/hospitality/. For those wishing to dine off-campus, there are multiple options available nearby as well.
Exhibit Students:
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All set-up work must be done by students only, and must be completed by 9 AM! You may have help from other students, but not from parents or teachers. Parents and teachers are not admitted during set-up – doing so is grounds for disqualification.
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If you are using technology or other valuable items in your exhibit, you are responsible for it! We recommend you bring these items in during your interview time with the judges and take them with you when you leave. NJ History Day, National History Day and William Paterson University are not responsible for any items left in the exhibit hall.
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While we make every effort to have a guest wireless network set up for competition day, please do not rely on it. Judges cannot be expected to judge multimedia they cannot view.
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Judges will preview exhibits before interviewing starts, so be sure to leave your process papers and annotated bibliographies with your exhibit.
Performance Students:
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If you are competing in Shea, bring props through the loading dock entry and remove immediately after performance. Items left behind will be discarded.
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Please be sure you have a safe place to store your costumes and props. NJ History Day, National History Day and William Paterson University are not responsible for any items lost during competition.
Documentary Students:
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Each room will be equipped with a laptop LCD projector and WPU-supplied laptop with VGA connection. While you are still welcome to bring your own equipment, if you decide to do so, you must bring your own adapters.
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You will need to set up and run the equipment yourself – having parents or teachers help is grounds for disqualification.
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While we expect to have a guest wireless network set up for competition day, please do not rely exclusively on it. To prevent problems, we recommend you bring your documentary on multiple formats (your own laptop, flash drive(s), and/or cloud storage, for example). Judges cannot judge a documentary if they cannot view it!
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Documentary Students must bring a hard copy of their project on a labeled flash drive in a labeled zip lock bag. This flash drive must be turned into your judging team for runoff judging later in the afternoon. NJ History Day cannot guarantee the return of this flash drive.
Please read the Rule Books online (see the links below) and understand the common rules and the category specific rules.
The contest rule books also discusses issues such as Plagiarism, Fair use, disqualifications, etc.
Judging Criteria
Historical Quality (60%)
Historical accuracy
Historical context
Analysis and interpretation
Use of available primary sources
Wide research
Balanced research
Relation to Theme (20%)
Clearly relates to theme
Demonstrates significance of topic in history and draws conclusions
Clarity of Presentation (20%)
Presentation, written materials are original, clear, appropriate, organized and articulate
Entry is organized; visual impact is appropriate to topic
Judge’s Conflict
Contest Rule Booklet in English:
https://www.nhd.org/sites/default/files/NHDRuleBook2021Digital.pdf
Contest Rule Booklet in Spanish:
https://wpunj.edu/coe/assets/397-084_Contest_Rule_Book_Layout_FNL_SP_rev1_Lo_2.pdf