Communication is Key

Clearly communicating your Science & Engineering Fair expectations will help to reduce family stress, motivate students to participate, and save you loads of time in the end. Getting all of your communication materials readily available to your school community early in the season will streamline your whole experience. Clear and consistent communication is your key to success!

Types of materials for you to consider:

Guiding Materials:
- Mission Statement
- Student Handbook
- Required Rule Checklist
- Student Leadership Form
Assessment Materials:
- Judge’s Guide to Assessment
- Skills Assessment Tool
Marketing Material:
- Student In-School Announcements
- Parent Electronic Announcements
- Hall and Take-home Flyers

It will save you a lot of time and save families frustration if you have a single location where everyone can access all of the materials early on. Ideally, you’d be able to upload all of your communication materials to a single webpage that is dedicated just to all of your fair’s materials and logistics. If you are unable to create and host a dedicated webpage, then other options include:

Having a dedicated and accessible cubby,
Asking teachers if they can distribute materials to families, and
Having a dedicated shared folder (i.e. Dropbox or Google Drive).

All of your messaging to families through materials should align with your mission. For example, “Our mission is to inspire and empower our students to explore authentic and innovative science and engineering projects through our Science & Engineering Fair. We look forward to celebrating students’ STEM skills and their creativity, problem-solving, communication and collaboration skills at our innovative Science & Engineering Fair!”