Each year, every Mount Carmel junior enrolled in U.S. History is required to develop a project for the Chicago Metro History Fair. This year, 20 of those projects advanced to the regional competition at the Illinois Institute of Technology on March 11. Of those 20 projects, seven were chosen to advance to the next round of competition: Anthony Morales and Kendall Nichols advanced in the documentary category; Zachary Pasciak and Zachary Styka advanced in the research paper category; and Ryan Foley, Jordan Patterson, and Edward Carter advanced in the exhibits category.

Whether it be a research paper, documentary, or exhibit with a poster board, each project deals with an event from Chicago history. Students are allowed to research and pick any event that they find interesting within a given thematic area. This year’s theme was “Taking a Stand in Chicago/Illinois History.” Though students do not have to follow this theme for the local competition, they must do so if they wish to advance all the way to the National History Day, held at the University of Maryland in June.

The next phase of the competition, the Metro Finalists’ Competition, took place on Tuesday, April 4. The decisions about which projects will advance to the Illinois History Day on May 4 in Springfield, Illinois, will not be known until the end of April.