Upcoming youth science fair at GCSU in need of judges

Published 5:58 pm Sunday, February 26, 2023

Catrena M. Lisse, Ph.D., invites you to attend the State K-5 Science Fair Thursday, March 9, at Georgia College & State University’s Centennial Center.

What the director of the Science Education Center really means is that, she is inviting qualified individuals to help make this fair a great experience for the youth involved. It is because of the number involved that has brought an unprecedented need for judges, and lots of them.

“We have over 300 projects with almost 430 students (grades K-5) coming from all over the state of Georgia,” said Dr. Lisse. “With that many projects, we are searching for more judges that would like to volunteer to help. Anyone with a science background from physicians to retired educators are welcome to sign up to judge.

“Needing more judges is a great problem to have because it is exciting to see so many young people interested in science and engineering. This is the largest number of projects we have ever had in the six years of running the state competition.”

And so, Dr. Lisse doesn’t want there to be a negative connotation attached to what she is asking, not like the shortage of workers or officials for high school or lower level sporting events.

“Usually, we find enough judges from our university faculty, staff and STEM major students,” said Dr. Lisse. “We need approximately 150 judges to create enough Judge Panels needed for 15-minute interviews per project. We currently have about half of what we need.”

But the show will go on, one way or the other.

“If we can’t get enough judges then we will need the current judges to interview even more projects and we may need to shorten the interview time per project,” she said. “We will make it work, but the kids worked hard to make it to the state competition and I really want to give them as much time for interviews as possible so they can show off everything they accomplished. They deserve it.”

Basically, a bulk of the work for a judge at this science fair is in the interview. Dr. Lisse said each panel contains at least one Lead Judge who has a Ph.D., M.S. or equivalent years of expertise in specific scientific areas. The remaining panel members are the STEM majors, community members and campus staff.

“We need at least three judges per panel,” said Dr. Lisse. They will interview the competitors every 15 minutes during a two-hour window (10 a.m.-noon).

“Obviously, judges need to be good with children. We ask judges to always leave the student with a positive, encouraging comment.”

Other requirements for a judge include an electronic device (cell phone, iPad, etc.) for judging. The scoring is done using an online platform called RocketJudge. If a judge needs to borrow an electronic device, Dr. Lisse said one can be provided for them.

The four main areas of judging include:

• Biological Sciences (animals, plants, cells, microbiology, weather, earth and environment),
• Chemical Sciences (chemistry, biochemistry, energy, materials science),
• Health Sciences (behavioral, social, exercise science, and medicinal), and
• Physical/Computation Sciences (astronomy, physics, mathematics, robotics, and engineering).

Anyone interested in volunteer judging fortwo hours on March 9 can sign up by using Judge Registration Link at www.rocketjudge.com/register/AD557vGM.

There will be a judge orientation the hour before interviews begin for anyone new to judging. After signing up, judges will receive additional training information and instructions on where and when to meet at Centennial Center.