53rd Thomas Alva Edison Kiwanis Science and Engineering Fair Harborside Event Center 1375 Monroe Street – Fort Myers, FL  33901 January 29-30, 2010 Notes to Parents Congratulations on surviving another Science Fair season!  Your child has faced and you have endured more rules and paperwork than any of us want to deal with. Please understand that the ultimate motives of this complex process are quite well intended.  The health, safety, and wellbeing of our students are of primary importance.  Underlying each piece of paper is an important safeguard for participants. Please help your child to understand that he or she is already a winner. It is a tribute to your child’s quality of effort to have won at the school fair level. It is an honor to be able to participate in the Regional Science Fair. The fair schedule has been designed to accommodate our large number of finalists. Your assistance in the display set-up process and judging day will help facilitate the fair.  Please read the schedule below. Friday, Jan. 29, 2010 – Project Set-Up – Harborside 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Project Set-Up – Drop off students and projects on the west side of Harborside (1375 Monroe St.). Parking is available in the lot on the east side of Harborside and south of Harborside at the city parking garage. Student finalists must first pick up their official name badges and display location information before attempting to set up their projects. Any lingering SRC concerns must be addressed before set-up. After set-up and before departure, all projects must be reviewed and approved by the Display & Safety Team. Student finalists should leave all materials that they wish to display for judging at their projects overnight.  If there are expensive items that should not be left, please have your student obtain a “property removal sticker” from a Display and Safety official.  This sticker will permit the student to remove the equipment and to return with the item on the day of judging. Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 – 9:00 am SHARP – All student finalists will enter the judging floor.   DO NOT ARRIVE LATE AS THE JUDGING FLOOR WILL BE CLOSED AFTER ALL FINALISTS ENTER.  All finalists must wear their name badges or they will not be permitted to enter the judging floor.  Appropriate dress would be business casual or business professional. Any finalists returning with approved display materials may install them at their projects between 7:30 AM and 8:00 AM. Once judging has begun, no parents or teachers are allowed on the display floor.  Students are encouraged to bring a book, bottled water, or light snack (if needed). Please review the new policy regarding cell phones and other electronics. We will complete the judging process as quickly as possible.  Since each category of projects is judged by an independent team and since some categories may have only a few entries, some categories may complete the judging process ahead of others. 11:00 AM – 11:30 AM – Judging Break – All Students will exit judging floor.  Please instruct your student to remain in the Harborside Convention area.  Parents and teachers will be able to meet with their students at this time.  The Kiwanis Club will have their snack concession open in Centennial Park. 11:30 AM – ALL STUDENTS MUST RE-ENTER THE JUDGING FLOOR FOR A FINAL ROUND OF JUDGING.  STUDENTS MAY NOT LEAVE EARLY. 2:00 PM – Judging is completed and students are dismissed. 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM – Projects are open for public visitation.  Students are encouraged to remain with their projects but this is not mandatory. 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM – Project breakdown.  Please be sure to have someone there on time to remove the students’ projects.  The fair committee is not responsible for any loss or damage to unclaimed projects.   Everyone is invited to the Grand Awards Ceremony at the Alico Arena, Florida Gulf Coast University, FGCU Blvd., Fort Myers on Wednesday, February 10 at 7:00 PM.  Students who will be receiving awards will find a ribbon and notification at their display on or before 4:30 PM on Saturday. All projects must stay on display until 5:00 PM. All projects must be removed from Harborside by 5:30 PM.