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NATIONAL HISTORY DAY�of Contra Costa County�

NHD-CCC 2026

INFO

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What is NHD? �

National History Day is an annual history competition open to all 4^th-12^th grade students. Nationwide every year more than 30,000 teachers and 700,000 elementary, middle and high school students participate in county, state and national National History Day competitions.

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NHD in Contra Costa County (CCC)

NHD of Contra Costa County has participated since 2010.

Saint Mary’s College has hosted the National History Day CCC contests since 2018.

The competition is open to all Contra Costa County public, private, and homeschool 4^th -12^th grade students.

The Contra Costa County contest is in early March every year, followed by the State contest in April or May and the National Contest in June.

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Contest Overview & Important Dates

Project

Deadline �Wednesday�February 11th

2026

NHD of Contra Costa County–Sunday MARCH 15, 2026

NHD-CCC

Registration Cost Per Student �$50*

NHD-CCC

REGISTRATION

Opens

January 1, 2026

Closes

January 31st, 2026

*Registration fee waivers available for students from Title I schools

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Registration

NHD of Contra Costa County–Sunday MARCH 15, 2026

Register for NHD from

January 1-31, 2026

Return Here after

Jan 1, 2026

The Contra Costa County contest

is an in-person^* contest

Sunday, March 15, 2026

at

Saint Mary’s College of California

in

Moraga, CA

*In-person means that attendance is mandatory for individual projects and at least one member of a group must attend for group projects.

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Other NHD Contest Dates

Mark your calendars for the other competitions too!

NHD-CA State Contest

May 1-3, 2026 at CSU Sacramento (Sac State)

2025 National Contest

June 14-18, 2026, University of Maryland, College Park

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Theme 2026

Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History

The annual National History Day^® contest theme is designed to help you think of a topic from any aspect of local, regional, national, or world history. With this focus, you can begin to ask questions that your research will help you answer, including how your topic is significant in history.

Here are links to help you integrate this theme into your project:

2026 Theme Graphic Organizer

2026 Theme Video

2026 Theme Book

NHD US Theme Page

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Topic Selection

MN interactive topic exploration tool: pickingatopic.weebly.com

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Important Guidelines

Highlights:

Annotated Bibliography: list of primary and secondary sources used in the project along with short descriptions of their use.
Each annotation must be no more than two or three sentences.
The Chicago Manual of Style by University of Chicago Press or MLA Handbook by the Modern Association of America are accepted formats.
500-word Process Paper describing how the student selected the topic, conducted their research, selected their category and created their project, and how the project relates to the NHD theme. Process papers are now required in all categories, including papers..
Historical Paper: 1,500-2,500 word limit
Performance & Documentary: 10 minute time limit
Website: 1,200 student-composed word limit
Exhibit: 500 student-composed word limit, 40” width x 30” depth x 72″ height limit
Poster: 30” x 40” size limit, Poster, 350 student-composed word limit
Podcast: JR & SR Divisions 10 minute time limit. Elem Division 6 minute time limit.

Click here for important details and expansive guidelines!

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Project Categories

Divisions

Elementary Division Grades 4 & 5

Poster (Group or Individual)

Top 4 projects move on to NHD-CA State competition

Podcast (CA only)

Top 4 projects move on to NHD-CA State competition

They do not advance to the NHD-National Competition

Junior Division �Grades 6 - 8

Exhibit
Documentary Film
Historical Paper (See Next Slide for New Process)
Dramatic Performance
Website
Podcast (CA only)

�Top 3 NHD-CCC projects in each category advance to NHD-CA State competition

Top 2 NHD-CA projects in each category advance to the NHD-National Competition

Senior Division�Grades 9 - 12

Exhibit
Documentary Film
Historical Paper (See Next Slide for New Process)
Dramatic Performance
Website
Podcast (CA only)

�Top 3 NHD-CCC projects in each category advance to NHD-CA State competition

Top 2 NHD-CA projects in each category advance to the NHD-National Competition

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Historic Paper: New Process

Historic Papers are no longer part of the County competition

–Now papers go straight to the CA State Competition!

Click Here to learn: HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PAPER COMPETITION:

Each school can submit a total of 3 papers.

January 20 is when registration for the competition opens.

February 12 is when the papers are due and registration closes.

The papers are given to judges across the state for review.

12 finalists from the junior division and 12 finalists from the senior division are chosen.

Papers can be revised, with final papers due by

March 25, 2026.

Finalists will attend the National History Day California state contest (May 1-3) for a chance to move to the national competition in June.

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Elementary Poster

Poster Elementary Division (4th-5th Grade Students)

Written Materials submitted as a PDF (Title Page, Process Paper, Annotated Bibliography) - Due WEDNESDAY, February 11th, 2026

Poster submitted (traditional format or printed digital format) - Due SUNDAY, March 15th, 2026

Ways To Create Poster

Traditional 2-D with images and text glued on display board OR
Create a digital poster using any design software (Google Slides, PowerPoint, Canva, etc.)

Noteworthy

Layout dimensions must be no larger than 30” x 40”
350 word limit of Student’s words

All Text YOU write, including titles, subtitles, captions, graphs, or timelines

NHD-CCC Submission Process

Students will upload their written material (Title Page, Process Paper, and Annotated Bibliography by February 12th) in PDF form to our Google Drive account. Students bring their physical posters to our in-person competition.

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Exhibit

Exhibit - Jr. & Sr. Divisions

Written Materials submitted to our Google Drive as a PDF (Title Page, Process Paper, Annotated Bibliography) – Due WEDNESDAY February 11th, 2026
Students bring physical Exhibit to our in-person competition at Saint Mary’s College of California - Due SUNDAY, March 15th, 2026

Ways To Create Exhibit

These can be on traditional tri-fold board and may include added 3D elements.

Noteworthy

The layout dimensions must be no larger than 40” wide by 72” high.
500 word limit of Student’s words

All Text YOU write, including titles, subtitles, captions, graphs, or timelines

NHD-CCC Submission Process

Students will share their written material PDFs to our NHD Google Drive account by February 12th and bring their physical exhibits to Saint Mary’s College on the DAY OF the competition.

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Dramatic Performance

Performance - Jr. & Sr. Divisions

Written Materials submitted as a PDF (Title Page, Process Paper, Annotated Bibliography) – Due WEDNESDAY February 11th, 2026

The actual performance will take place LIVE at on the day of the competition. – Due SUNDAY, March 15th, 2026

Noteworthy

No more than ten minutes
Have five minutes to set props, etc up
Props, costumes, effects are all YOUR responsibility

NHD-CCC Submission Process

Students will share their written material (Title Page, Process Paper, Annotated Bibliography) in the form of PDFs to our Google Drive account.

Bring any materials (props, sets, costumes, music, etc.) needed with you to perform your dramatic interpretation of History on the day of the competition. All performances will be live at Saint Mary’s College of California.

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Documentary, Website and (Historical Paper*)

Documentary Film - Jr. & Sr. Divisions: 10 mins max

Documentaries will be submitted as a MP4 video file
Written Materials submitted as a PDF (Title Page, Process Paper, Annotated Bibliography)

Website - Jr. & Sr. Divisions: 1,200 visible words max

Websites will be created using NHD platform NHD WebCentral https://www.nhd.org/nhdwebcentral
Written Materials submitted as a PDF (Title Page, Process Paper, Annotated Bibliography)

NHD-CCC Submission Process

Students will share their final projects and written material PDFs to our Google Drive account the day that project submissions are due (WEDNESDAY, Feb 11, 2026).

Historical Paper*

Historical papers will not compete at county contests. Instead, papers will be directly submitted to the state contest by the teacher. See next slide.

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Historical Paper*

Historical papers will not compete at county contests. Instead, papers will be directly submitted to the state contest by the teacher.

LINK to WEBPAGE with all of the info you need re: the Historical Paper Contest

Guidelines for Historical Paper:

Paper must be 1,500-2,500 words in length
Citation for sources are required in the form of footnotes, endnotes, or internal documentation

Citation is required for specific ideas, quotes, images, etc.

Paper must be printed on plain, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper, double-sided, in 12-point font, with 1-inch margins on all sides. A4-sized paper will be accepted from international Affiliates
Please refer to the NHD Rule Book for an example of a properly formatted paper

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Podcast Category for CA only, not National)

Podcast - Elementary, Jr., & Sr. Divisions

You must create and produce your podcast.
Only you may narrate your podcast.
Your podcast must conform to all general and category rules.
To produce your podcast, you must have access to equipment and be able to operate it.
You may use audio from film, recorded music, previously recorded interviews etc. in your podcast, following the guidelines for source credits in Rule G5.
You must create Show Notes: a written list of brief citations for all sources of audio used in the podcast that were not student-created

NHD-CCC Submission Process

Students will share their final projects and written material PDFs to our Google Drive account the day that project submissions are due (Feb 11, 2026).