For Schools
Have a fair coming to your school? This page will guide you through what you can expect and how to prepare your students, parents, teachers, administration. If you don’t have a fair coming to your school, but are interested in having one, please visit our Request a Fair page.
Video Overviews
The best way to see how we work in schools is to look at our short videos:
This 3 minute video introduction from 2009 shows what a fair looks like in schools. (Note: this video is different from the pre-fair informational video that explains to students more about the research study and what to expect)
Planning Overview and Frequently Asked Questions
Each fair is completely different and tailored to that audience. That said, we’ve learned a lot over the years about what tends to work best. In this downloadable Fair Planning FAQ document, you’ll find information about:
- How our event works in schools
- Audience (how many we can serve per hour, per day)
- Space needs (facilities, tables and chairs)
- Parent communication (including permission slip templates)
- Teacher involvement and bookending the fair
- Set-up and break down details
- Computer needs
- Volunteer information
This document is just a starting point. We work with schools to plan a fair that tailored just for you.
Administrator Information
It is absolutely critical that your school administration is informed about the fair and what to expect. Remember, we’re an education AND research exhibit, which means we collect anonymous data from students. As a result, we want your school administration (principals, district superintendents, etc) to be well-informed about what is happening before, during and after your fair. Here are a few briefing sheets for your administrators. These were prepared by an Oregon principal who worked one summer after having the fair at her school.
Administrator Fact Sheet (new!) – at a glance information about what your administrator can expect
Partnerships and Grant Resources – 2 page document on resources for using your school’s data
Teacher Information
We want the fair to support what teachers are already doing in the classroom. The materials below were created by Oregon teachers to help other teachers prepare for their own school fairs.
Teacher guide to orient school staff about the Let’s Get Healthy! fair. This guide can easily be used without an event at your school, as it provides information about the framework used so that you can help your students understand how the data were collected.
At a glance lesson brochure that describes the teacher-created lessons available to bookend the fair’s content. Lessons for all grade levels and subjects. These and other resources are available our Teacher page!
On the day of the fair, teachers can show this informational video to students, which explains about the research study and what to expect
Other classroom resources:
- Adaptable powerpoint presentation about the fair and its stations — details about logistics for teachers and administrators
- Adaptable powerpoint presentation to prepare students for the fair and its stations
- Short video introduction to the Let’s Get Healthy! fair
- Answers to all sorts of questions in our Fair Planning FAQ document
Parent Information
We encourage schools to include parents in the fair process. Parents are encouraged to volunteer at the school fair and we are very happy to train them on how to conduct the research! We have templates for information letters and permission slips in our Fair Planning FAQ document. Schools can decide whether they’d prefer to use an opt-in or opt-out process, which they will manage to maintain anonymity of students going through the fair.
