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Dear 2017 National History Day Teachers & Parents,
We are so glad that you will be bringing students for this year’s Sixteenth Annual East
Tennessee History Day, a regional contest for Tennessee History Day, to be held on
March 3, 2017.
Schedule will be posted after registration closes on February 1, but see below for the
registration opening and awards ceremony ending times which will give you the general
idea. To be sure all students are judged, you need to plan on being in Knoxville until 1:45
or even 2:00 if possible to make sure all projects have been fully judged through first and
final rounds.
LOCATIONS—There is one central location in downtown Knoxville for registration
and the competition itself, the University of Tennessee Conference Center. The location
for opening and awards ceremonies will be announced in the days prior to the
competition, and this letter will be updated with that info (as well as other pertinent
competition info). Stay Tuned!

The University of Tennessee Conference Center at the corner of Clinch and
Locust Streets (click this link for map download
http://www.knoxvilletn.gov/UserFiles/Servers/Server_109478/File/Maps/mapdow
ntown.pdf)
ARRIVAL—
Unloading at the Conference Center: You can unload and load off of Locust Street in
front of the UT Conference Center. Locust Street is one way running south toward
Church Ave. Please move your car as soon as you are finished. Go one block to Church
Ave., turn left onto Church and go one block to Walnut and turn left if you want to park
in the Locust Street Garage. There is an entrance up one block off of Walnut. If you want
to park in State Street Garage, continue up Church Ave., through the Gay Street
intersection, and take the next left onto State Street. The garage is one block up on the
right.
PARKING – I am going to recommend that everyone park at the State Street, Market
Street or Locust Street Garages. The day rate is $7.00 maximum, $1.00 per hour up to
seven hours.
Please click here for the downtown Knoxville Map:
http://www.knoxvilletn.gov/UserFiles/Servers/Server_109478/File/Maps/mapdowntown.
pdf. Look at the center of the map and find Clinch Ave. You will see the Tennessee
Theatre at the east corner of Clinch and Gay. The State Street Garage is one more block
east at the corner of State and Clinch. If you look further west, you will see the UT
Conference Center at the corner of Locust and Clinch. The Locust Street Garage is at the
north corner of that intersection. The Market Street Garage can be found two blocks up
Walnut Street from Clinch Ave. The parking garages are indicated by a black block with
white P.
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The Locust Street Garage is closest to the Conference Center; however, the State Street
garage is in easy walking distance as well and depending on where the opening and
awards ceremonies are held, it might be more convenient to that location (TBA).
The Market Square Garage is convenient to Market Square which is centrally located to
many places to eat and only 2-3 blocks from the event locations.
SURFACE LOTS (blue blocks with white “P” on the map) in downtown are much more
than the $7.00/day rate, so please make sure your car-drivers know to park in the garages
unless they want to pay the extra rate (most of these lots have computerized payment
systems for credit card).
Bus Parking: TBA
REGISTRATION— Registration will be held between 8:15 and 9:30 on the 4th floor of
the University of Tennessee Conference Center. Only teachers can register their students
except in the case of a designated person representing a teacher (please let me know who
will be representing you). The teacher cannot register until they know all of their students
are present.
Please text or call Lisa at 865-680-5829 if you have a delay.
WELCOME CEREMONY—The Welcome Ceremony begins at 9:30 a.m. at a location
TBA. All participants need to be present.
JUDGING—First Round judging begins at 10:30 a.m. There will be plenty of time
given to get from the welcome to judging rooms.
Exhibits: Staff, volunteers, and students are only allowed in the Exhibit room during set
up and the room is closed to everyone except for judges and students during interview
from 10:00 until all judging (First and Final Rounds) is complete. Make sure to bring the
four copies of the process paper and bibliography. Students do not have to be present for
the final round, but the projects do need to stay until final round is finished around 1:00
p.m. The exhibits will be open for public viewing at approximately 1:15 p.m. or
immediately following final round judging, not before unless you have specific
permission from Lisa Oakley. Please plan to tour the Exhibits once judging is completed.
All must be removed before or immediately after the Awards Ceremony.
Audience: There is ample room for public viewing of performances and documentaries.
Judges do have the discretion to limit entry based on seating. All doors will remain
closed during documentaries and performances. Room monitors will open the doors
between projects.
Documentaries: All students competing in the Documentary Category will have a laptop
provided with a thumb drive loaded with the competing documentaries ready to be
played. We will try to have a downloaded version on the desktop as well. Make sure to
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bring the four copies of the process paper and bibliography. All of the documentaries will
be shown from this set-up unless there is a problem.
For backup, HAVE YOUR DOCUMENTARY prepared for a back-up plan B,
such as a laptop (w/good speakers) or portable DVD player that you know your
documentary works on in case there is an issue playing the documentary. It is also
good to take an additional precaution and have your project loaded onto a jump
drive and even your own laptop. With technology, there always seems to be
problems, so best to have a back-up plan for your original back-up plan
Performances: Performance Props: You can unload and load off of Locust Street in
front of the UT Conference Center. Locust Street is one way running south toward
Church Ave. Please move your car as soon as you are finished. Make sure to bring the
four copies of the process paper and bibliography.
Websites: Junior website judging will be in the UT Conference Center. Senior Websites
will be judged in the History Center, 3rd floor computer classroom. Bring one copy of
your paper/bibliography for your own reference.
Papers: Bring one copy of your paper/bibliography for your own reference.
Final-Rounds: Finalists will only be posted for the performance category if a final
round is required in that category. Exhibits are required to remain in the Exhibit room
until final judging is completed. The top three projects in each category will be
announced at the awards ceremony. First and Second place advance to the Tennessee
History Day competition on April 8, 2017.
INTERVIEWS—All students will be interviewed as part of the judging process (Note:
Per NHD rules, Student Interviews do not count toward judging evaluations).
LUNCH—On your own. There are great places for food and fun on Market Square and
Gay Street, both within 2-3 blocks of the competition locations.
PARENTS/FAMILY—Parents and family are welcome; however, please discuss with
them the nature of the competition and ask them to direct concerns to Regional
Coordinator Lisa Oakley. No one is to interrupt judging by broaching issues with the
judges during the contest. Parents are allowed to observe their children perform in the
performance and documentary rooms, but will not be allowed to sit next to the judges.
The judges may ask people to move back if they are too close to them as they conduct
their business.
SCHOOL APPAREL—In the spirit of fair competition, students are not permitted to
wear any shirts, jackets, etc. with their school’s name or logo on it during the
competition. If any students arrive at registration or are seen wearing apparel with school
logos during the contest, they will be asked to turn their clothing inside out or to remove
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any jackets with school names or logos. In addition, it is strongly suggested given the
professional nature of the contest and interviews, that students dress accordingly.
AWARDS CEREMONY—
The awards ceremony will begin at approximately 2:15 p.m., location TBA. Doors will
open at 1:30 p.m. The program should run no later than 3:45 p.m. Please make sure to
make arrangements so students can stay for the Awards Ceremony. Be prepared for
backup in the garages with everyone leaving at one time.
Regional winners need to stay after the awards ceremony for a brief meeting with
the Tennessee History Day coordinator.
**PLEASE NOTE **
*Students MUST NOT CONGREGATE AND HOLD LOUD DISCUSSIONS IN
THE HALLWAYS DURING THE CONTEST. This has created a disturbance in the
past and WILL NOT BE PERMITTED. Please be considerate.
*Please have your students ready in the room to go ahead of their scheduled time in case
a student's project before them fails to show—in this case, judges will move to the next
project! If you miss your time, please let the judges know following the next project so
they can fit you in either next, or at the end after all students have been judged.
*Hallways and doors will be monitored by volunteers. Rooms will be closed for
Documentaries and Performances while projects are being shown. We ask that no one
enters a room during a student's performance or while a documentary is being shown!
Please watch your inbox for frequent History Day notices that will be sent out during the
days before competition. If you should have any questions, please direct them to me at
any time. My cell number is 865-680-5829 if you need it.
Sincerely,
Lisa Oakley
Curator of Education and
East Tennessee Regional Coordinator
East Tennessee Historical Society
865-215-8828; [email protected]