The Chicago Metro History Education Center (CMHEC) has worked for more than thirty years to inspire students’ interest in history and improve history education in K-12 classrooms in the Chicago area. CMHEC’s signature program is the Chicago Metro History Fair, an annual competition in which local students present research projects on topics related to Chicago history. CMHEC does more than run a competition, however; it also offers yearlong programs for teachers and students to support project-based, inquiry methods of learning history. Since its founding in 1977, CMHEC has earned a nationwide reputation for leadership in the field of history education.

CMHEC Helps Students Make History

Each year CMHEC serves thousands of students and hundreds of teachers, from scores of area schools, who participate in History Fair at the school, regional, state, and national levels. During the Fair, students spend up to six months working individually or in groups to create historical research projects. Students learn how to find and use primary and secondary sources as evidence in their projects. In the process, they extend the walls of the classroom into the community to find sources for their research. Students present their findings through research papers, exhibits, documentaries, live performances, and web sites.

More than 500 people volunteer each year to serve as judges at History Fair competitions. Participation in History Fair helps students improve their reading, writing, thinking, and presentation skills. Students confront questions of significance, validity, points of view, change over time, and cause-and-effect. In studying the history of their own community, they learn how decisions are made in the social, cultural, economic, and political realms that affect their lives. Through History Fair, students not only become historians; they also become better citizens.

CMHEC programs meet State Goals for Language Arts and Social Sciences and apply to many other educational goals as well. CMHEC serves students, teachers, and schools in the City of Chicago and suburban Cook, Lake, Kane, and DuPage counties.