Volunteer Opportunities
The North Carolina State Science fair happens each year because of volunteers who are passionate about giving young people the opportunity to be actively engaged in the scientific process of developing an idea, testing the idea and then drawing conclusions and ideas from the results. You don't need a science degree to help.
Dates: Virtually on March 23, and in-person on March 24 & 25, 2023 (you can volunteer any or all days!)
Location: Talley Student Center and Carmichael Recreation Center — North Carolina State University, Raleigh
Volunteer Roles: Virtual and In-Person
For questions about being a volunteer please contact our volunteer coordinator, Susan Morin (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
On the day of the fair, volunteers Check-in at the Volunteer Room and receive additional instructions on their volunteer assignment. You will also receive a NC State Science and Engineering Fair t-shirt to wear during the fair to help identify you to students and parents. The Volunteer Room will be open all day with refreshments available.
| Virtual Fair Volunteer Roles | In-Person Fair Volunteer Roles |
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Virtual Volunteers Roles:
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In-Person Volunteers Roles:
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Additional Contacts
Fair Directory, Judy Day (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Executive Director, Stephánia Smith (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Judges
Time Commitment: 2-5 hours in week prior to review projects and:
- If in-person: full day for judging on the day of fair (<12 hours total)
- If virtual: approximately 5 hours.
For questions about being a judge please contact our Judge Coordinator: Dr. Gary Kelley (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
How it works:
You'll work in a small team of other judges with one of the categories (Biology, Physics, Chemistry, etc.) or in evaluating projects for special awards provided by professional organizations, the military, NASA and NOAA, etc. Be sure to Indicate what you are interested in judging when you sign up. Orientation training will be provided before the fair which describes how the process works.
About a week before the fair, each judge will receive their category or special award assignment, the scoring rubric, and access to the projects materials to familarize themselves with and begin brainstorming some questions to ask each student. Most judges spend about 2-3 hours on this step.
For Virtual Judging on Thursday, March 23, 2023, judges will login to the Zoom Session and depending upong numbers of projects, will interview students in teams of judges and then caucus together. On the day of the fair, judges arrive as the students are checking in, and gather in the judges room to meet up with the other judges on their team, and for final instructions befere beginning the process of reviewing projects and interviewing students. Each judge record scores based on the rubric provided and then caucuses with fellow judges in their category to comapre notes and select the winners. A head judge from each catagory lead the caucus to include results from virtual and in-person judging. They would then send the results to the Fair Director. and Awards Chair. The Judges Room will be open all day with refreshments available.
There is more detailed information about what to expect as a judge here.
Along with your role as an evaluator of student projects, you are also there to encourage and motivate student to continue pursing science, and even sometimes doing a little teaching. Judges should do what they can to help each student walk away from the fair with a sense of pride and accomplishment.