Judges

Students in grades five through twelve in public and private (including home) schools from Colbert, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin, Jackson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, and Morgan Counties in North Alabama are eligible to participate in the North Alabama Regional Science and Engineering Fair (NARSEF).

There will be two rounds of judging. In the morning, the projects from the Senior Division (grades nine through twelve) will be judged. The judging for the Junior Division (graded six through eight) and the Fifth Grade Division will begin after lunch. For each session, judges will be assigned into teams of 3/5/7 judges per team. Each judging team will be responsible for judging a category. Some teams will be assigned to judge a “Special Award” which is donated by a company or organization (past Special Awards include Toyota, US Navy, and Scientific American, to name only a few).

The size of the judging team will depend on the number of Science Projects in the category to which that team is assigned.

Judging is composed of two parts: interviews and reviews. During the interviews, each student stands by his or her project and is available to explain the project and answer questions. The judging team interviews each student within the category/age group the team is assigned.

Every student must be interviewed by at least one judge.

After the interviews are complete, the judging team then discusses the projects and decides which projects will be awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, as well as honorable mentions (if applicable).

A list of judging criteria will be available for judges at the Fair.

Judges need to arrive at the Conference Training Center Exhibit Hall on March 6 by 8:15 am for check-in and briefing. Judges must be available for the entire time during each session until they have a list of winners to submit to the Fair organizers. If a judge is only available for one judging session in the morning or the afternoon, please let NARSEF personnel know this in advance so that we can properly plan the judging teams.

Lunch will be provided for all judges.

REGISTER AS A JUDGE