FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions (As stated here on the IJAS website).

  1. What is IJAS?
    • As stated on the Home Page, Illinois Junior Academy is a Non-Profit organization that exists solely for the students. The State Science Fair is a large endeavor that is completely supported by volunteers.
  2. How does one join?
    • Individual schools pay a registration fee with their registration form that can be obtained from this site.
  3. How does a student get to State competition?
    • An individual school sends their students to their Region’s Science Fair. Student with the highest score qualify for State Competition. Due to the amount of space at a campus, each Region can send a limited amount of students down to state.
  4. If a student isn’t picked for state, is that it?
    • Yes and no. There is an alternate list of students after the initial cut off when students who qualify but can’t go for various reasons.
  5. What if the date of the fair coincides with another event?
    • Due to the size of this event, it is extremely difficult to not overlap some event somewhere. The dates of the fair are selected in advance and scheduled with the sponsoring institution.
    • Students are explained this fact by their sponsors before the competition and are expected to be present.
    • If there are religious conflicts, the sponsor should be notified. He/she should explain that to the Regional Chair so accommodations may be made.
    • Yes, there are things that pop up last minute. Before the fair, please talk to the Sponsor and ask if he/she can explain to the Region Chair why he/she needs to leave early. The judging chair can then explain to the Judges which student they should early so they can go to their other event.
    • Please remember that there are over 500 projects being judged, thus the number of exceptions will be very minimal.
  6. My son's high school does not participate in science fair. They do Science Olympiad and do not have enough staff to run both. How can he compete in science fair?
    • As stated above, each school will need to find at least one Sponsor, who does not necessarily have to be the Science teacher, but someone willing to go to the mandatory meetings.
  7. Where do I set up my project?
    • The school is divided into category areas. Check the maps at the northeast entrance to find your category area. Check the lockers or hallway walls in that area for your number. If you need to set up a table in one of the hallways, set it up under your number. Move the number to your table.
  8. What is my project number?
    • You should have received this from your sponsr and it should be on your name tag. If not, check at the information table at the northeast entrance.
  9. What time does judging start?
    • Be at METEA by 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Judging begins at 9:00 A.M. If you are a judge, then you need to be attending the judges meeting in the auditorium by 8 a.m.
  10. What time is judging over?
    • Judging ends around noon. At noontime, a general announcement will be made dismissing all who have been judged. Those few presenters still needing to be judged will remain until their judging is done.
  11. Is it okay to leave my paper with my project?
    • Leave nothing with your project when you are away from it. IJAS is not responsible for any missing goods.
  12. When and where will the Awards be presented?
    • Awards will be brought to the display boards starting about 3 PM. Please leave your board in place if you plan to stay for presentation of awards.
    • If you receive a letter with your award informing you that you have been selected to represent Region 9 at the State Fair, please take the letter to the State Registration table in the cafeteria. You must turn in a judging form when you register for the State fair.
  13. When can I remove my project?
    • Take down your project AFTER the presentation of Awards is over and you have received your award. No one should remove a project until after the Awards presentation has concluded.
  14. What should my parents do while I am being judged?
    • Parents are asked to leave the judging area during judging. They may wait in the cafeteria. Students may leave after the noon dismissal and return for the 3:00 P.M. Awards presentation.
  15. My name is spelled incorrectly on the certificate. What do I do?
    • Take your certificate to the Awards Room with the correction carefully printed on the certificate. It will be corrected for you.
  16. How many papers do I need to bring for Poster or Paper Session?
    • Poster session requires at least 3 copies of your paper for judges to read after student presentation.
    • Paper session requires one copy with original signatures on Safety Sheet and any Endorsements by both the sponsor and the student. Note: No Modifications of the paper can be given to judges during paper session. Please ask Sponsor and read guidelines. Additional data taken after the district fair can be presented to the judges the day of the fair as an Addendum.
  17. Do I need to bring a table to the Regional Fair?
    • Most projects will not need tables as they will be set-up on lockers. However, depending on the number of projects, some students may be informed ahead of time of the need to bring a table to the Regional Fair.