OJC Press Release ID: 3074

The 25th Arkansas Valley Regional Science Fair will be held virtually on Feb. 5, 2021 through Otero Junior College. Students, ranging in grades from K-12 can still enter the fair through registration completed by their teachers or parents/guardians. Registration opened in October of 2020 and it has been extended to Friday, Jan. 22, 2021 at 11:59 p.m.

Area teachers have been sent information regarding registration and how to proceed, however, if a student is participating independently, not affiliated with any school, or is a homeschooled student, the following steps must be taken to register them:

Step 1: Registration. Below is detailed information on how to do so.

1. A parent or guardian must create a teacher account prior to creating one for the student(s) by going to https://arkansasvalley.wixsite.com/avrsf/ and then selecting “Teacher Registration” from the drop down menu located on the REGISTRATIONS link on the top navigation menu.

2. All registrations require an email validation.

*Note: It is the recommendation of AVRSF that teachers and parents/guardians create their own account FIRST, then that teacher or parent/guardian can create an account for each of their students by clicking on the “Student Registration” link located just below the “Teacher Registration” option on the AVRSF website. These logins can then be passed on to the student.

3. Students, after logging into their own account created by the adult as described above, are required to fill all forms inside “Project Dashboard”. These forms are completed entirely online, through the website. In addition to completing these forms, students can upload their research plan and project pictures (at most six JPG/PDF files) at the “upload/add document” section. Because the “teacher” created the student account, they may also log into the student account to complete these steps. All documents must be either Microsoft Word or PDF files.

4. Once students complete #3, the teacher account can see their list of students under the “My Students” menu.

5. Inside the “My Students” menu of the teacher account the “teacher" can click on the student’s name and click on “Review Project on Dashboard” to review each student’s forms.

6. The teacher account needs to review all info and then sign electronically inside “Form 1”.

7. Finally, within the teacher account, select “SRC Approval” at the bottom. This option can be seen inside “Review Project on Dashboard” (left middle corner of the page).

8. Students will have the ability to edit their project until Wednesday, Feb. 3 by 11:59 p.m.

Step 2: Signed ISEF paperwork must be turned in no later than Sunday Jan. 24, 2021. All forms can be signed electronically. Follow the steps found on the AVRSF webpage.

The participation entry fee is $25 per student. Due to the unique nature of the fair this year, the committee is requesting that all fees be paid by the end of the registration deadline, Jan. 22. Payments will not be accepted day-of. The payment option will pop up during the registration and can be made with a credit card online or via check, payable to OJC Science Fair.

Checks can be mailed to:
Otero Junior College
Attn: Science Fair
1802 Colorado Ave
La Junta, CO 81050

Science Fair should be written in on the memo line of the check as well. Mailed checks will need to be postmarked by Friday, Jan. 22.

The virtual fair will begin on Friday Feb. 5 at 6 a.m. and will go through 10 p.m. Judging will begin at 8 a.m. with K-5 being judged in the morning 6-12 in the afternoon. All participants and “teachers” will be notified of the students’ judging time along with instructions approximately a week before the fair.

All projects will be viewable to the public through the Showcase function at https://co-arvrsf.zfairs.com/app/showcase?f=d57b4d9c-b14b-4897-80f1-dfe942bc9b2c. Awards will be announced virtually the following week and students will receive all awards through the mail.

For questions, emails can be sent to OJC-Science-fair@ojc.edu.