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About Chicago Metro History Education Center:
 Who
We Are...
Since 1977, the Chicago Metro History Education Center,
an independent non-profit organization, has promoted
discovery of the past through its signature student
program, the History Fair, and its accompanying
teacher services and educational materials.
History Comes Alive in the Classroom
Bring the History Fair to Your School
Students gain a greater understanding of the past because
they don’t just cover history, they uncover it.
By doing independent research, students become immersed
in their topic, draw their own conclusions about its
impact, and make connections between events in history
and their own lives. The History Fair develops students
abilities in reading comprehension, research, organization,
teamwork, and critical thinking. It also addresses state
goals 14-18 in Social Studies, particularly goal 16,
and 1-5 in Language Arts. CMHEC can help schools incorporate
the History Fair into the classroom. Here’s how:
 School
Visits CMHEC staff will visit individual classrooms
and introduce the History Fair to students.
Resources CMHEC has an array of materials available
to teachers including videos, CD-ROMs, and Chicago history-based
curricula.
Professional Development Throughout the year
CMHEC offers various workshops and institutes to enhance
teacher knowledge of Chicago history, resources, assessment,
and History Fair methodology (from research to presentations).
Website A virtual History Fair manual, our website
offers information about the annual theme, topic ideas
as well as History Fair-related classroom activities
created by veteran teachers. Many of our resources,
examples of student work, our event schedule, and any
required forms are a mouse click away at www.chicagohistoryfair.org.
History Fair Partners Schools that participate
in the History Fair join CMHEC as History Fair Partners
which entitles them to school visits, free professional
development, at-cost resources, and student entry to
the regional contests.
For more information call us at 312.255.3661 or visit
our website at www.chicagohistoryfair.org.
About Margot’s experience volunteering for
the CMHEC as a History Fair Judge:
 “I
received an alert in my info@womenoncall mailbox one
morning detailing a volunteer position judging Illinois
high school history projects. The alert had come from
CMHEC. I checked my schedule and found this was a time
I could arrange to 'give back' so I emailed Pauline
at CMHEC, she slotted me in and sent out a form with
notification that preparatory material would be sent
out closer to the time of the volunteer event. Everything
arrived in a timely and very complete manner so that
I was prepared on the day of volunteering.
I was really impressed by the organization and professionalism
of CMHEC and even more so when I saw them in action
on the morning I spent as a volunteer judge.
A great many volunteers turned up for the early morning
shift, they checked us in, gave us breakfast and took
us through mock judging then paired us up and sent us
about our assignments. I was fortunate in that I got
paired with a woman who had done this many times before
so as we viewed the History Projects displayed by the
students she could help me as we filled out the forms
that strove to be encouraging while being constructive
in both our criticism and praise. The second round was
meeting with the students themselves. This was a really
wonderful experience, to understand from them why they
had made the choices for their particular history project.
Particularly why they had not included some of the knowledge
they clearly had when we talked to them, that we had
found missing on their boards. This was a good exercise
for them and made us feel that we were helping them
reach further and those that made it to the next round
would perhaps have gained some more insights into how
to present their interesting stories in ever more fascinating
ways.
This was an excellent volunteer opportunity, very well
organized and a great use of time that almost any thoughtful
person can and should give some time too. Pauline's
group will make sure you are well prepared.
TRULY A MORNING WELL SPENT.”
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