COVID-19 Update

Tues., Mar. 10, 2020

Dear Students, Educators, and Families,

Congratulations on qualifying for the Tennessee History Day state contest! We hope that you had a good experience at the district and regional events.

Because of COVID-19, we are having to make some adjustments to our plans for the state contest. We anticipate more school closings as the virus spreads. In an effort to lessen the risk of exposure to our students and their families, educators, judges, volunteers, and staff, we will be implementing plans for a virtual contest. This decision was made in consultation with the staff at National History Day and with our district/regional coordinators.

What does this mean for you? You will not be traveling to Nashville to be interviewed. Your entries will be judged remotely. We wanted to let you know now so you can adjust your travel plans and work to revise your projects effectively. All entries will be judged without an interview. We have 175 projects and 100 judges. Trying to set up video-conferencing is not within our capabilities. Therefore, your project will stand on its own.

For the Documentary, Website, and Paper competitors, you will follow the registration instructions and deadlines as originally planned. Your revised entries must be submitted via the registration system (and SmugMug for Docs) by Mon., Mar. 16, 2020, 11:00 pm CT/12:00 am ET. Your permissions, waivers, and payments are due by the same deadline.

For the Exhibit and Performance competitors, you will complete your online registration and payment by the deadline of Mon., Mar. 16, 2020, 11:00 pm CT/12:00 am ET. You will be given an extra 11 days to submit your actual projects.

Additional requirements for the Exhibit category include:

• Uploading cover sheet, process paper, bibliography, and text for exhibit labels as ONE pdf via the registration system.
• Submitting photos of your Exhibit. Follow this template.

Additional requirements for the Performance category include:

• Uploading cover sheet, process paper, bibliography, and script as ONE pdf via the registration system.
• Filming your Performance in ONE single shot—no fancy camera angles or editing—and submitting the .mov or .mp4 via SmugMug. Additional instructions and links will be on the THD webpage. An adult can operate the camera for you; this is not a rules violation.

These materials, for the Exhibit and Performance categories only, are due by Fri., Mar. 27, 2020, 12:00 pm CT/1:00 pm ET.

Special Award nominations should follow the procedure detailed on the THD webpage. The deadline is Mon., Mar. 16, 2020, 11:00 pm CT/12:00 am ET.

We should be able to announce the medalists for the Documentary, Website, and Paper categories by Sat., Apr. 4, 2020, 4:00 pm CT/5:00 pm ET. You can find the results by visiting the registration login webpage and selecting Contest>Contest Results>(2020) Tennessee History Day.

We hope to announce the medalists for Exhibit and Performance and Special Awards on Wed., Apr, 8, 2020, 4:00 pm CT/5:00 pm ET.

This was a decision that was made with a great deal of thought for your health and safety and with input from the national, state, regional, and district levels. We regret that we will not be able to bring together 300 young historians for an exciting day in Nashville. Our judges, volunteers, and staff look forward to Tennessee History Day as the highlight of the year. We are determined to continue with the competition and uphold the high academic standard of National History Day. We hope the plans we have developed for a virtual contest will allow students to participate.

How can you help?

• If you are a Documentary, Website, or Paper competitor, observe the registration deadline. (Permissions, waivers, payment, and entry submission by Mon., Mar. 16, 2020, 11:00 pm CT/12:00 am ET).
• If you are an Exhibit or Performance competitor, complete your permissions, waivers, and payment by the registration deadline (Mon., Mar. 16, 2020, 11:00 pm CT/12:00 am ET).
• Do not create a duplicate account.
• All competitors should review your personal information in the registration system. Make sure your address and email are correct. If schools are out, we may have to contact you directly, rather than through your teacher. We have added a question asking your t-shirt size; please complete this. All medalists receive a THD t-shirt. We also will need a correct address if you win a medal or special award.
• Hold your questions. All will be revealed. We must update the website with specific instructions for Exhibit and Performance and create folders on the SmugMug server for your video files (Performance category only). We will be providing a very explicit, step-by-step guide for how to successfully submit your entry.
• If you know that you still cannot compete or do not want to compete in a virtual contest, please let us know so that we can remove you from the registration system.
• Pay your registration fee. Even though you are not here, we still bear the same administrative costs. We have to pay our staff to organize the 175 entries and work with the judges to return your feedback to you.
• If you are in the Doc or Performance category, DO NOT attempt to login to SmugMug. You cannot. You should see a green check when your file is properly uploaded. If you continue to try to login, you will activate the suspicious activity protocol and we may have trouble accessing our account. We will let you know if your file is missing.
• Understand that we want you to participate. If there is some barrier to you adjusting—maybe your Exhibit is locked up at school and your school is out for the rest of the month, maybe you don’t know how to record your Performance, maybe you can’t properly format a pdf—please let us know. We are not giving up on having a contest and you should not give up on submitting your best work.
• Wash your hands!

At this time, plans for the National History Day contest, to be held Sun., June 14 to Thurs., June 18, 2020, in College Park, MD, remain the same.