Brazos Valley Regional History Fair

Students from a five county region will compete for advancement to Texas History Day in Austin under the guidelines of National History Day. Students in Grades 7-12 create projects related to an annual theme, which in 2013 is "Turning Points in History: People, Ideas, Events." Project categories include: historical papers, exhibits, performances, documentaries, and websites.

Almost 200 junior high and high school students will put their historical knowledge on display at the Brazos Valley Regional History Fair Feb. 8 at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site. Star of the Republic Museum, administered by Blinn College, coordinates the event each year.

This year 187 students with 107 projects are registered to compete. The history fair is open to students in grades 7-12 who have qualified for the regional competition by competing in their local school history fair.

The regional history fair is open to students from Austin, Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Washington and Waller counties. This year’s event includes students from Navasota Junior High, Navasota High, Brenham Junior High, Anderson-Shiro Secondary School, Bryan ISD’s Stephen F. Austin Junior High and Brenham Christian Academy.

“I’m always excited to see the results of these students’ work,” said Anne McGaugh, the museum’s curator of education and the Brazos Valley Regional History Fair coordinator. “It’s a tremendous learning opportunity for the students. They do their own research, analyze the results and put a lot of effort into these projects.”

Project categories include historical paper, exhibit, documentary, performance and interpretive website. Judging takes place throughout the day, and each student has a scheduled interview time with the judges to answer questions and describe the project’s research and analysis. The judges are volunteers from local historical commissions and organizations as well as Blinn faculty.

Some presentations will take place inside the museum, while other projects will be on display at the site’s education, visitor’s and conference centers. This is the eighth year the history fair has been held at Washington-on-the-Brazos.

“We utilize every square inch that we can,” McGaugh said.

At 3 p.m., the awards ceremony will announce the winners, including those who will advance to the state competition to be held in Austin on May 3-4. Winners at the state competition can advance to the National History Day competition held at the University of Maryland in June.

The awards ceremony also includes special awards sponsored by local people and organizations, including local historical commissions.

“I really appreciate our local sponsors being a part of this because it gives the students a greater motivation to participate and more opportunities to win,” McGaugh said.

The public is invited to view the documentaries and performances beginning at 9 a.m. and the exhibits, historical papers, and websites will be available for public viewing after judging ends at 11:45 a.m.

Star of the Republic Museum, is located at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site, off Highway 105 on F.M. 1155 between Brenham and Navasota.  It was created by the Texas Legislature and is administered by Blinn College as a cultural and educational institution. Daily museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.