The Howard County Genealogical Society is considering the establishment of our organization as a resource for local history for the Howard County Public School System. HCGS Vice President Tom Flynn is coordinating this initiative. One way our members can support history programs in the Howard County secondary schools right now is by volunteering as judges for the annual National History Day competition. This year, the competition and judging are virtual. The information for registering as a judge is below. Please note that the deadline for registering is February 22^nd. If you have some extra time and you love history, please consider signing up as a judge. If you have any questions, please contact Tom at tomflynn1@verizon.net.

HELP WANTED: Judges Needed for Howard County History Day (Virtual Competition)

Yes, it is History Day time! The Office of Secondary Social Studies is pleased to invite you to serve as a judge for History Day 2022. We are celebrating our 18th year sponsoring the countywide district competition! Your job will be to evaluate middle and high school project entries submitted by students from across Howard County. As you know, an event of this size & scope would not be possible without the help of our incredible volunteers, like you!

Would you please consider serving as a judge this year?

Judges will be asked to dedicate approximately four hours during the first week of March to serve in this role. The virtual competition format will allow us to electronically share the assigned entries, as well as the judging instructions, with you and your judge team by March 1st. Judges will work independently to evaluate assigned entries followed by a virtual session to collaborate with your judge team partners. Those judges that volunteer to serve as a Run-Off Judge will be needed for an additional three to four hours to finalize our category winners.

If you are not available but know of someone who would enjoy this opportunity, please feel free to pass along our official invitation. This invitation includes more details about the competition & the National History Day program.

Registration needs to be completed by 2/22/22. Thank you for your consideration. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me (kelly_reichardt@hcpss.org). We appreciate your dedication and support in uplifting historical research and civic engagement.

Judge Registrations Instructions:

To sign up to judge for the virtual 2022 Howard County History Day Competition:

Visit our new registration site. (https://md-hcdc1.nhd.org/?f=a4ba515d-6a9e-4582-8983-149e0e6238d5#)
Go to the “Create Account” section, found on the top left of the page.
Enter your name and email address. Click “Next.”
You will receive an email from NoReply@zfairs.com. Follow the link in the email to continue registration.
Select “Judge”
Complete Judge’s Personal Information. Please note that the system will automatically generate a username that is a composite of your first and last name, without spaces (EX: AbrahamLincoln). You may change your username.
HCPSS Staff: If you are a NHD teacher sponsor and would also like to be a judge, please use a personal email account for this role (not your HCPSS). It is also recommended that you register your first name (or user name) as follows in order to differentiate between your teacher sponsor and judge emails. EX: JudgeKelly
IMPORTANT: Write down your username and password. You will need them later.
Complete the judging preference questions on the next page.
Indicate your agreement with the required permissions and waivers on the last page.
Please check your inbox for emails from zFairs.com. Occasionally, these emails will land in your spam folder.
Please add this task to your calendar. I will be in touch with you as we move closer to March.

Key dates:

2/22/22 Judge registration deadline
2/28/22 - 3/5/22 Preliminary Round Virtual Judging Window
3/6/22 - 3/9/22 Run-Off Round Virtual Judge Window
3/12/22 Virtual Awards Presentation posted @3pm

Helpful History Day Judge Resources: