Contest Information

Every effort is made to ensure that judging of the National History Day in South Dakota competition is fair and accurate at all levels. We understand the time and hard work put into each project and while not placing can be disappointing, we do everything possible to fully prepare judges to provide a quality judging experience for students.

Please carefully read the information below to inform yourself about National History Day in South Dakota’s policy regarding judging. We also suggest that you familiarize yourself with the judging information found in the NHD Rulebook.

The NHD® Interview

REMEMBER: The interview is NOT an evaluated component of the NHD process, but it is required at all levels of competition.

• The interview allows the judges to determine that the work is the students’ own. This includes design and content.
• The interview allows the judges an opportunity to understand students’ choices.
• For example, it may be clear to the student why they chose a particular source or why they organized their content the way they did, but this may not be immediately clear to the judges. Interview judging allows students to develop different levels of reasoning by having to explain their choices.
• By interviewing, students are able to share what they have gained from the NHD experience with an audience outside of their school.
• The interview is NOT a memorized and rehearsed presentation by the students to the judges.
• REMEMBER: Students do not interview again if they advance to finals at any level, so their work must stand on its own. NHD judges need to be able to understand the project’s argument, source choices, thesis, conclusion and relation to the theme without the students’ presence.

Helping Students Prepare for the NHD Interview

• Use the suggested judging questions provided on the Official NHD website.
• NOTE: These suggested questions are available to judges and can help students prepare for the interview, BUT judges are not required to ask the recommended questions and may ask their own questions based on the topic, project type and the students’ answers.
• Consider mock judging at your school, either as part of a school contest or as a classroom activity.
• Interviews at contests are roughly 5-10 minutes in length.

Notifying NHD in SD Staff During a Contest

Below are situations that you should notify NHD staff about during a contest. Staff will determine the best course of action regarding the situation.

Immediately Notify NHD in SD Staff If:

• A judge does the following:
• Asks a personal question of a student (i.e. Where are you from? What school do you go to?).
• Bans spectators from the performance or documentary rooms during project showings. Spectators are allowed to watch the performance but must leave the room as soon as judging begins.
• Indicates that they know the student in any way (i.e. they know their parents, are a relative, a former teacher, etc.).
• Expresses a value statement about a project during the interview process (For example: This is a terrible topic and you should never have done it. Alternatively, I think this project is going to win at nationals).
• Equipment problems occur during judging.
• To limit such issues students should test their project on a variety of computers and formats. Our goal is to give every student entry a fair hearing.
• If the issue is not resolved within five minutes then a tech specialist will be contacted. This will not affect the project’s evaluation.
• If the issue cannot be resolved and the project is unable to be viewed during the contest, then the project is ineligible for advancement.

Reporting Comments and Concerns After a Contest

No National History Day in South Dakota Staff, including the NHD in South Dakota state coordinator, nor any official of the NHD national office, has the authority to overrule, set aside or otherwise undermine a judge's decision, and under no circumstances will a judge's decision be changed after a contest. 

ALL JUDGING IS FINAL.

• If you have specific concerns about the process as you observed it please follow the below procedure:
• Submit concerns in writing to:
• National History Day in South Dakota, 977 11th St. Brookings, SD 57007
• Or, to the NHD in SD Staff at, at sdsu.agmuseum@sdstate.edu
• Please allow 3-5 working days following a contest for NHD in SD staff to respond. We are working hard to finish post-contest details and will address any concerns in due time.
• Any grievance MUST be made in writing. The staff will not be able to properly address any grievance made by telephone or in person. Once submitted, the State Coordinator will contact you to address any issues.
• Comments and concerns will be taken into account for the next competition cycle and used to improve the judging experience where necessary.

Spectator Basics

The below information is useful for those new or unfamiliar with the NHD judging process.

What you should know about the judges:

• Judges receive the same instructions at all levels of competition.
• State contest judges receive in person training prior to the state contest in addition to judging instruction documents.
• Judges have suggested questions to ask students, but may ask questions not on that list. They may also ask different questions for each project.
• Judges have absolute authority to remove disruptive individuals from the judging room and to bar spectators entirely, if they deem it necessary to protect the integrity of the judging process.

What you should know about spectating:

• The public is only allowed to observe the presentation/performance of documentary and performance projects. Spectators must leave the room as soon as judging begins.
• Spectators are to enter the room before the project is presented, never during.
• TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES while viewing any student projects.
• Refrain from cheering during documentaries and performances. Brief applause at the end is acceptable.
• Please remember to keep voices down while in the judging areas, including hallways.

The National History Day in South Dakota Contest Advancement Policy ensures that uniform advancement measures are in place that promote clarity and fairness across all levels of National History Day in South Dakota contests. All participating NHD in SD entities are REQUIRED to follow this polity.  

School Level Contests 

• Teachers may use school-level contests to determine which projects will compete a regional contest or as a non-eliminating practice competition. 
• No more than 100 of your total number of students may attend the regional level contest. If your school has over 100 students submitting projects for competition, please consider holding a school-level contest to decide who shall compete at the regional contest level.
• NHD in South Dakota can provide advice for managing a school contest. 

Regional Level Contests 

• Any 6th-12th grade student must compete at their designated regional contest in order to be eligible for state-level competition.  
• All contest locations will follow the same judging and advancement policy.  
• Our policy is to advance the top three placing projects in each category and division to the state contest.
• However, the decision as to which projects advance and which do not is still at the discretion of the judges. They may determine that not all placing projects may advance.  
• Ribbon award color distinction is as follows: 
  • Blue Ribbon – 1st Place 
  • Red Ribbon – 2nd Place 
  • Green Ribbon – 3rd Place 
• Note about contest attendance: We realize that conflicts may prevent a student from attending the regional contest. For group projects, at least one member of the group must be present to represent the project. 

State Level Contests 

• Our policy is to advance the top two placing projects in each category and division to the national contest.
• An honorable mention will be awarded to the 3rd place project in each category/division and that project will serve as an alternate in the event a 1st or 2nd place project cannot attend the national contest.  
• However, the decision as to which projects advance and which do not is still at the discretion of the judges and they may determine that not all placing projects may advance. For example, if there is only one project in the category and they get a bronze. They do not automatically advance to the national competition. 
• State medals color distinction are as follows: 
  • Gold medal – 1st place 
  • Silver medal – 2nd place 
  • Bronze medal – 3rd place 
• Note about contest attendance: We realize that conflicts may prevent a student from attending the state contest. For group projects, at least one member of the group must be present to represent the project. No alternate members may be added to the group at this level of the contest.  

Final Round 

• Some project categories may require an additional round of judging due to the number of projects in that category. This varies year to year. Not all categories will have a final round.  
• If a category has final round, the top two projects from each first round judging group will advance to the final round. 
• All documentary participants should bring a copy of their project to leave with judges in the event they advance to the final round.  

National Level Contests 

• 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each category in the junior and senior divisions are awarded. 
• There are also numerous special prizes available that typically have a monetary value. 

Final Round 

• There are between 10-12 judging groups per category/division at the national level. One project from each judging group will advance to the final round.  
• Documentary and performance finalists must return for the final round to show their projects, but they will not interview again.
• Exhibit, website, and paper finalists are not announced to the public during the national contest.  

Questions regarding the National History Day in South Dakota Contest Advancement Policy can be directed to the National History Day in South Dakota Committee at sarah.jacobs@sdstate.edu.