We are looking forward to seeing your students’ projects at WSU Tri-Cities on Thursday, March 13! This post has some important updates and reminders about this year’s fair.
We have a NEW FAIR LOCATION: The Fair will be in the CIC Building at WSU Tri-Cities. Please see the schedules and maps page on our website for maps and driving directions. (CIC stands for Consolidated Information Center.)
Certificate of Insurance: All schools need to supply a current Certificate of Insurance to the Mid-Columbia Science Fair. Certificates should be sent to Eva Baroni at eva.baroni@icloud.com. Instructions and an example certificate are at: https://midcolumbiasciencefair.org/teachers/teachers-documentation/
Stipends: MCSF has stipends available to help defray travel and/or substitute teacher expenses. One $100 stipend is available per school. If you are interested, email fair director Joyce Stark at: joyce.stark@sunnysideschools.org. Include your school’s mailing address. Checks will be payable to the school and sent after the fair.
Schedule: The general fair schedule is on our website at https://midcolumbiasciencefair.org/students/schedule/ Lunch breaks are staggered by division to avoid crowding in lunch areas – the lunch schedule will be handed out at registration. Project Displays need to be set up by 9am and remain set up until 5pm. Projects can be taken home between 5 and 7pm. If you have any students who are not able to remove their displays during this time, email registration@midcolumbiasciencefair.org to make alternate arrangements.
Lunch Options: The El Tacorriendo and Doggie Style Gourmet Food Trucks will be available just outside the CIC building between 11am-1pm. They accept cash and card payments, and prices range from $3 to $16. Vending machines are available in the CIC Building. Students may also bring their own lunch from home/school.
Project Review: The SRC is working to review projects and will send messages to students if they need to make corrections to their Research Plans or Forms. Please encourage your students to complete these corrections promptly so their projects can be approved. Tell your students not to panic if they get a message that a form was rejected – that just means they need to make a correction on the form or scan. Let us know if you have any questions or need help uploading forms. You and your students can see which forms have been approved inside your STEM Wizard accounts.
Registration Deadlines:
February 11: Research Plans and Forms deadline for any project needing SRC or IRB pre-approval
February 19: Registration deadline – Research Plan and Forms must be in by 9pm
March 4: Deadline to complete any corrections requested by the SRC
March 4: Deadline to complete the Additional Information Milestone – yes/no questions that may qualify a project for some special awards
March 10: Deadline to complete the Abstract and Project Board PDF milestones – this information will be used by Judges and Special Awards
Project Display Information: Please make sure your students are aware of the rules for their project display: https://midcolumbiasciencefair.org/project-display-information/ No active internet or email connections are allowed as part of the project display. This page also has some example templates for students who want some guidance on what to include on their display board.
Interpreters: If you have ESL students, you may bring support staff from your school to Interpret for these students during the Judge Interviews. Display boards must be in English. Email judging@midcolumbiasciencefair.org by March 5 with the names of students who will be receiving interpreting services and the names of the interpreters.
Payment: The participation fee of $5 per student will be collected when you check in at the fair. We ask that teachers who are bringing a group of students collect payment for all their students and then submit one single payment at fair check-in. Payment by Purchase Order or Check is highly preferred. Payment may be made by check, PO, or cash.
WSSEF: Students who participate in the Mid-Columbia Science and Engineering Fair are also eligible to participate in the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair (WSSEF). We’ll send more information about WSSEF in early March and will open up a new milestone then where students can indicate if they want to participate at WSSEF. Projects will be electronically promoted to the WSSEF STEM Wizard site after the Mid-Columbia Fair.
Please let us know if you have any questions.