2026 SARSEF Fair Grand Award Judge (Middle School 6-8)

Description:

Judge for the 71st Annual SARSEF Regional Science and Engineering Fair and make students proud of their science! As a grand award judge at the Middle School level, you will evaluate projects, interview students, and weigh in on which projects will receive 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in a specific category along with your judging team.

Middle School judging and interviews for the 2026 SARSEF will be held virtually over Zoom.

You will use our criteria modeled after the criteria used at the International Science and Engineering Fair to select winning projects and interview the students to learn more about their work and encourage them to continue pursuing their interests in science and engineering.

Qualifications:

Middle School judges must have a high school education and some relevant experience or advanced education in the field.

Sign up for the categor(ies) that you have the most interest and applicable experience. If you sign up for more than one category, we will assign you to the team with the highest need. If your preferred category is full, pease join the waitlist and sign up for a secondary choice in the meantime. Based on your category preference, we will assign you to a specific judging team at a later time.

• *Categories have changed for the 2026 SARSEF Regional Fair to reflect current research trends and interest. For full category descriptions, please click HERE.*

2026 Categories:

Animal Science

Applied Technology

Energy and Change

Food and Nutrition

Human Health and Behavior

Physics and Astronomy

Plants and the Environment

Middle School judging caucuses and student interviews will occur on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. Judging session (caucus) will be held 10:00a-11:15a and student interviews will be held 11:30a-4:00p.

Judging training and project review should be conducted prior to the caucus. All judges will need to view virtual training prior to judging to go over procedures and any updates and changes from previous years.

Training Sessions (virtual, you should plan to attend only one):

Tuesday, February 24 6:00p

Wednesday, February 25 8:00a

Judges may review projects on their own time starting Saturday, February 28 at 12:00p through Wednesday, March 4 at 10:00a.

• SARSEF Judging Code of Conduct and Harassment Policy

Please sign up through this link: https://sarsef.cervistech.com/acts/console.php?console_id=0013&console_type=event_list&ht=1&event_id=151

7 options available:

• Animal Science: Wednesday March 04, 2025 - 10:00 to 11:30 MST
• Applied Technology: Wednesday March 04, 2025 - 10:00 to 11:30 MST
• Energy and Change: Wednesday March 04, 2025 - 10:00 to 11:30 MST
• Food and Nutrition: Wednesday March 04, 2025 - 10:00 to 11:30 MST
• Human Health and Behavior: Wednesday March 04, 2025 - 10:00 to 11:30 MST
• Physics and Astronomy: Wednesday March 04, 2025 - 10:00 to 11:30 MST
• Plants and the Environment: Wednesday March 04, 2025 - 10:00 to 11:30 MST