More than 200 students are expected to attend Northern Illinois’ Regional History Fair, which is being held at NIU April 11.

Richard Altenbaugh, NIU assistant professor of history and academic coordinator of the fair, said students will bring their history projects to NIU for judging. He said winners will be announced at an award ceremony after lunch, and the projects will be displayed all day.

Deborah Booth, NIU continuing education coordinator, said sixth-grade through senior high school students from all over Northern Illinois, except Chicago, will attend.

Booth, also a coordinator for the fair, said, “There are many different categories to enter such as art, dioramas, models, handicraft, media, research papers, individual/group performance and miscellaneous.”

There is a rating system consisting of superior, excellent, good and fair, Booth said. There are a certain number of winners from each group, and the students in the superior category will go on to further competition, she said. “The winners of each region will be invited to Springfield the first week in May,” Booth said.

Altenbaugh said the Illinois State Historical Society, one host of the fair, originated the idea of having universities sponsor the fair instead of high schools. He said the other hosts are NIU’s department of history, the College of Continuing Education and the NIU Provost Office.

Booth said, “among other activities, the visiting students will be given a tour of NIU’s campus, the Ellwood House Museum and NIU’s Anthropology Museum while their projects are being judged.”