The St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum was excited to be of the 2025 National History Day (NHD) State Competition on May 5 & 6. This annual competition, sponsored by the Museum of Florida History, invites middle school and high school students to plan, create, and present, unique projects through historic research focused on an annual theme. This year’s theme, “Rights and Responsibilities in History,” challenged students to explore pivotal moments and figures in history through a diverse array of mediums including papers, exhibits, performances, documentaries, and websites. Hannah Millhollon, the Museum’s Education and Programs Manager, attended the conference as a judge for one of the competitions.
This leg of the competition invited qualifying students to showcase their projects and compete to move to the National Competition in June. Categories for this competition are divided into Junior and Senior levels and by project type, i.e. papers, exhibits, performances etc. Of all the students who competed, only about 20 individual or group projects moved forward to represent Florida at the National Level. This year, the conference welcomed over 890 middle and high school students from across the state!
The St Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum has participated at the local level of this competition for the last few years through guest judging and contributing prizes for the specialty category The Lighthouse helped develop: “Lighting the Way to Education.” This award is presented to students who create outstanding projects in the history related education. Winners of this category are awarded family passes to visit the Lighthouse, offering them a chance to experience history where it was made. This year’s winning project was awarded to a Junior Group Exhibit.
Through participating in this national competition, at both local and state levels, the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum fosters connections with schools, supports student learning, and expands its mission to discover, preserve, present and keep alive the stories of the Nation’s Oldest Port® by inspiring future generations to pursue history-based careers.
For more information about the competition, click here.
