Virginia students in grades 4-12 are preparing to compete at the 50th annual Virginia History Day competition at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture April 27-28.

Virginia History Day is the state affiliate of the National History Day program. Students choose a historical topic, conduct primary and secondary source research, then present their findings in one of five presentation categories: paper, documentary, website, performance or exhibit.

To celebrate the event’s 50th anniversary, this year’s National History Day theme is “Turning Points in History: People, Places, Ideas.”

The theme allows students in each category to consider an idea, event or action that directly, or sometimes indirectly, caused change.

The National History Day contest is similar to a science fair but for history. Dr. David Van Tassel, a Case Western Reserve University professor who was concerned about lagging history education, founded the contest in 1974 to inspire students to conduct original historical research. The contest has since grown into an international competition with more than 500,000 participants and thousands of dollars in scholarship awards and prizes annually.

After months of research and success in local and regional competitions, more than 400 students will present historical research projects at VMHC to secure their spot at the National History Day contest in June. This year’s state competition will be the largest state contest the museum has hosted. This year’s local district contests also saw participation from 1,200 students, a 20% increase from last year and the highest number of students to ever participate statewide.

For more information, please visit VirginiaHistory.org/Virginia-HistoryDay.