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Tennessee History Day NewsletterAugust 2026
Back to School!
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The 2027 NHD theme has been announced!Â
Innovation in History: Impact, Influence, Change
Innovation vs. Invention: Innovation is more than just inventing a new tool or device. It includes new ways of thinking, organizing, and implementing ideas.
Impact, Influence, Change: Projects must analyze what happened after the innovation occurred and how it affected people and communities.
Scope: You can pick a topic from local, national, or world history, spanning any time period. However, if historians haven't written about it yet, it likely isn't a good NHD topic! Time is needed for historical perspective and impact.
Things to keep in mind as you get started:
- Start with the theme terms first. For students to really explore topic options, they must understand the definitions to apply them to new contexts. Spend time as a class going over the language of the theme - see resources below!
- The theme is a tool for you to help students move beyond listing facts; they can use it to understand how to research with a purpose and build a point of view (student voice!).
- Developing an argument comes after they do some solid research. Students often want to launch right into making their exhibit boards. Remind them they can't create an argument if they don't have any facts yet! Their exhibit is a display of their argument...based on those facts and primary sources. Research comes first.
- While you're exploring the theme, dedicate class time to the NHD rubric and the historical vocabulary found there. The more familiar they are with these ideas, the more they will show up in their research.
2027 Theme Resources
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THD Fall Workshops: NHD and the SSPs
Educators will hear how National History Day can bridge the gap between content and the application of social studies practices in the middle and high school social studies classroom. Then, participants will discuss the meaningful use of SSPs, explore NHD and Library of Congress materials, and collaborate on implementation strategies.
Attendees will receive their professional development certificate and a $50 stipend after completing a final survey. The certificate will be shared to the email used at registration. Curriculum materials and lunch to be provided.
ChattanoogaÂ
Chattanooga State Community College
Friday, August 21Â at 9:00 AM ET until 3:30 PM ET
Jackson
Jackson-Madison County Library
Tuesday, August 25 at 9:00 AM CT until 3:30 PM CT
Murfreesboro
The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County
Thursday, August 27 at 9:00 AM CT until 3:30 PM CT
Presented in collaboration with Middle THD coordinator Kira Duke and the Teaching with Primary Sources Southern Region staff!
Spots are limited to register today! Be sure to share with a colleague. Teams are encouraged to attend.
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THD Professional Development On Demand: Book with Becky!
Becky Verner, former classroom teacher, museum educator, and 2020 TN NHD Teacher of the Year, has joined the THD team. With over 25 years of experience, Becky has served as an NHD teacher, state judge, and attended the national contest. In the classroom, she implemented NHD as a required project with the entire 7th grade at her middle school. She also implemented NHD as an activity period and after-school club. There are pros and cons to both approaches, which she can share with you. Learn about all the possibilities this fall by signing up for online professional development and/or collaborative planning meetings with her at no cost. Becky is available to discuss ways you, your team, or your entire department can get students involved in NHD this year.
Available topics include:
- NHD in Baby Steps
- NHD 101
- NHD in Class vs. NHD Club
- Collaborative Meetings
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Back-to-School Research Roundup: Tennessee History Day at the Tennessee State Library & Archives
Research Roundup is an open house event on September 26, 2026 that gives students the opportunity to:Â - Get research and project help from Library & Archives staff & History Day staff during 1:1 consultation
- Attend mini-lessons on how to conduct research at the Library & Archives
- Attend mini-lessons on various parts of the History Day process, like process papers and annotated bibliographies
- Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Library & ArchivesÂ
- View sample projects from past History Day contests
- Find additional research through online databases, books, and help from librarians & archivists
Pre-registration for students, teachers, and parents is strongly encouraged so that we may be prepare for your visit.
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How-To Webinars from Teaching with Primary Sources Southern RegionMiddle Regional Contest Coordinator and longtime THD partner program, Teaching with Primary Sources - MTSU has developed a great new resource for research!
Check out their How-To series on Youtube, which covers topics like finding online exhibitions, reading old manuscripts, finding charts and other visual data, and secondary sources all from the Library of Congress repository.
Highlighted Episode
How to Refine Your Searches on the Library of Congress Website LINK
In this episode, we explore Research Guides, tips for selecting search terms and filtering search results, Boolean searching, and the Ask a Librarian feature. Visit our TPS Southern Region website at https://library.mtsu.edu/tps/ to check out what materials we've already created for you on various subjects.
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Tennessee Council for History Education
2026 Conference
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Raising the Standards: Teaching History for the Future
Friday, November 13, 2026Â
Call for proposals
The Tennessee Council for History Education invites you to submit a breakout and/or poster session proposal for the 2026 conference. The conference will be held at Sarah Simpson Professional Development Center in Knoxville on Thursday, November 12th and Friday, November 13th. The theme for this year's conference is "Raising the Standards: Teaching History for the Future."
TNCHE will feature a poster session in addition to the regular breakout sessions. Poster presenters will have a dedicated time to share with conference attendees. Breakout sessions will run approximately 60 minutes. Below you will have the option to select which type of session you would like to propose. Submission deadline is Friday, August 28th.
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TN Shout Out - NHD Argumentation Series
National History Day® (NHD) is proud to announce the educators selected for its latest iteration of the Historical Argumentation: Using Library of Congress Resources to Build a Historical Argument, Exploring Innovation: Impact, Influence, Change in History webinar series. Sponsored by the Library of Congress, this professional development series is designed to deepen participants’ understanding of historical argumentation and to provide educators with resources and strategies for their classrooms.Â
From late July 2026 to November 2026, 53 educators will build their teaching knowledge through online Library of Congress resources, complete assignments, and join monthly webinars led by Dr. Christopher Hamner, Associate Professor of History at George Mason University. Once complete, educators will have demonstrated the ability to share key strategies for researching, supporting, and presenting historical arguments bolstered by primary sources held by the Library of Congress. Educators will build historical argumentation skills and learn how to integrate the following skill sets into their classroom resources for students:Â Â
Historical Thinking Skills for Argumentation
Tools of Historical Analysis: Perspective, Hindsight, and Agency
Argumentation and Evidence
Outlining an Argument and Drawing Conclusions
“Guiding educators in finding and using resources from the Library of Congress fosters valuable primary source analysis and historical argumentation skills in the classroom,” said NHD Executive Director, Dr. Cathy Gorn. “We are grateful for this partnership with the Library of Congress and to continue supporting educators across the country in teaching these important skill sets to their students.”
Congratulations to the following Tennessee educators participating in NHD’s latest Historical Argumentation webinar series:Â
Mrs. Kate Hoppenrath, West High School, Tennessee
Ms. Kandy Williams, Snowden School, Tennessee
Interested in joining an NHD program like this? Keep an eye on newsletters and NHD social media for future opportunities!
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Nikki Ward, State Coordinator Tennessee History Day
Tennessee Historical Society
Ground Floor, War Memorial Building
305 6th Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37243
615-741-8934
historyday@tennesseehistory.org
www.tennesseehistory.org/tennessee-history-day
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