The East Kootenay Regional Science Fair is being held a couple of months later than in previous years, so there's plenty of time for local students to prepare projects.
The fair, which is open to students in School Districts 5 and 6, will be held Friday and Saturday, April 11 and 12, 2014, at the College of the Rockies.
"We moved the dates so that the (East Kootenay) fair would be closer to the Canada-wide Science Fair," said Anita Savage, one of the fair's organizers. She added that most regional science fairs are held around that time of year.
"So students have two months to prepare their projects."
At last year's fair there were more than 250 projects, with hundreds of dollars in prizes and scholarships.
The East Kootenay fair usually sends four winners to the national fair. Students can get going on projects right away, by going to the website www.ekrsf.ca, which has tons of information on how to do a project, including a six-week plan to follow. Students can also ask their teachers for advice.
The overall theme of this year's fair is Agriculture/Farming, in keeping with the United Nations International Year of Family Farming.
There will be many exhibits on hand at the fair as well, including: The Rocky Mountain Trench Restoration Program, Parks Canada, Wildsight, Tipi Mountain, Vast Resources, Top Crop, the Columbia Basin Environmental Educators Network, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists.
Friday, April 11, is the competitive fair for students from Grade 7 through 12. The next day, Saturday, April 12, is the non-competitive fair for students Kindergarten through Grade 6.
Savage said that organizers are needed for both days — judges for Friday and helpers for Saturday. Volunteers should be able to commit to two hours, to four hours, or all day.
This year's fair sponsors are Teck Coal, BC Hydro, School District 5 and College of the Rockies.