Webpage last updated: July 20, 2023
Based on a theme selected annually by NHD, students in grades 6 to 12 use primary and secondary sources to research a topic relating to local, national, or world history. The 2023–24 theme is Turning Points in History. After analyzing and interpreting the information they have gathered, students express their findings in a paper, exhibit, performance, documentary, or website. They may work individually or in groups of up to five members except in the historical paper category, which is open only to individuals. Students' entries are judged in two divisions—Junior (grades 6–8) and Senior (grades 9–12)—during various levels of competition. County winners in each category and division advance to the state contest in Tallahassee in May. First- and second-place state winners in each category and division earn the right to represent Florida at the National History Day competition in College Park, Maryland, in June.
More than 19,000 students in 32 counties participated in the 2022–23 Florida History Day. More than 850 youths registered for the state contest in May, and 58 students represented Florida at the National History Day competition.
Participating counties pay an annual fee of $150, which enables all public, private, charter, and homeschool students to compete. Each county has a local coordinator, who oversees the school and district contests in her/his area. The statewide coordinator assists local efforts by preparing contest and curriculum materials, maintaining a website, providing training workshops for teachers and students, administering the state competition, and coordinating Florida's involvement in the national program.