National History Day (NHD) Club had their first meeting on September 1, and will now meet the first Tuesday of every month at 8 a.m. in room H221.

“(NHD) at Carmel is a part of a nationwide competition to create a history project, ideally from your state, to present before judges at a contest,” Faith Austin, club president and junior, said via email.

During the club meeting, students will be working on their projects and perfecting them.

“We spend the whole year working on our project (a documentary, poster, website, paper, or performance) and prepare to present at a contest in the spring,” Austin said.

This year, Austin said the competition theme is “Communication is Key.”

So far, COVID-19 has not impacted NHD’s plans for this year, but they are not sure yet if the contests will be virtual or in-person.

“Last spring in April, our state contest went virtual, and the national contest in June also went virtual. So right now, we are waiting to see whether or not our regional, our state, and our national contest will be in person or virtual,” NHD sponsor Katie Kelly said.

Kelly also said NHD is a great club to join for anyone who is interested in history or learning about a new topic.

“It’s an awesome club because you have other students who are also interested in history. You get the chance to bounce ideas off of each other and get help building your project because most of the students in the club aren’t participating in this as part of a class,” she said.