History Day

History Day 2026: Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History

We can’t wait to see you on March 6. 2026! Hundreds of middle and high school students from northeastern Colorado will participate in UNC History Day as they explore “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.”

Students will present their research to panels of scholars, including faculty members from the University of Northern Colorado. Performances, documentaries, and website presentations are open to the public, and attendees may view exhibits at scheduled times. Top entries will advance to the state competition in Denver in late April.

Registration for teachers and judges is now open! Go to: https://gr-co.nhd.org/ to sign up. Teachers need to register by December 20th, 2025. Student registration opens on January 1, 2026.

What is History Day?

UNC History Day is a regional academic competition and part of the National History Day in Colorado and National History Day programs. Our contest is open to students in northeastern Colorado including Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, and Estes Park. Counties represented by UNC History Day include Larimer, Weld, Morgan, Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Yuma, and Washington. Students in grades 6 through 12 are eligible to compete. While many students participate in our contest through the sponsorship of their schools, we welcome independent student projects and projects generated by home schooled students.

Students may submit entries based on the annual National History Day theme in either the Junior (6-8) or Senior (9-12) divisions. They may compete either individually or in groups of two to five students. Students may present their research in one of five categories: exhibit, documentary, performance, website, or paper. All paper entries are individual projects; there is no group paper category.

History Day in Colorado

The top three entries at UNC History Day in each category are eligible to compete at the National History Day in Colorado contest, hosted by the History Department of the University of Colorado Denver. The top two winners from each category at the National History Day in Colorado contest may advance to the National History Day Contest in College Park, Maryland.

National History Day

The mission of National History Day is to improve the teaching and learning of history in elementary and secondary schools so that students become better prepared, knowledgeable citizens.

National History Day (NHD) is not just a day, but every day! NHD is a year-long education program that engages students in grades 6-12 in the process of discovering and interpreting historical topics. Students research a historical topic of their choosing that relates to the annual theme, and then present the results of their research in one of several formats: dramatic performances, imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries, interactive web sites or research papers. These projects are then evaluated at local, state, and national competitions.

For more than 25 years the National History Day program has promoted systemic educational reform related to the teaching and learning of history in America’s schools. The combination of creativity and scholarship built into the NHD program anticipated current educational reforms, making National History Day a leading model of performance-based learning. -CHD Statement