FORSYTH COUNTY — An annual technology competition for school-age students is still a few months away, but registration opens soon to allow time to brainstorm and create projects in a number of categories.

Registration for this year’s Forsyth County Technology Fair, set for Jan. 24 at Whitlow Elementary, opens Nov. 1 and closes Jan. 8.

All students in third through 12thgrades who are schooled within Forsyth County may participate. That includes all public, private and home-schooled students.

The annual event showcases young talent in various technological fields. The winner of each category will be invited to the statewide Georgia Educational Technology Fair in March at Middle State College in Macon. Scholarships are available for seniors at the state level.

“Tech Fair is a great opportunity for students who have interests and strengths in a variety of areas,” said Karen Daughtery, instructional technology specialist at Whitlow and the Tech Fair’s director. “The students are able to show their passion for technology by creating projects that mean a lot to them. Their projects amaze us every year.”

Students may enter just one project, which can be submitted by a single student or a two-member team.

Teams and individuals will compete against each other within each grade grouping except for the programming challenge category. Students can participate in that category and the Technology Literacy Challenge in addition to entering one project. Grade groupings are as follows: third and fourth; fifth and sixth; seventh and eighth; ninth and 10th; and 11thand 12th.

Lee Steiner, a judge at the event for the past six years, said the fair has grown each year and that she enjoys seeing “what technology in Forsyth is all about.”

Projects are judged on originality, clarity, documentation, appropriateness and design.

Steiner also judged the State Tech Fair last year, where 37 projects from Forsyth County took first, second or third place. Those winners spanned every category, 20 of which were for first.

“To see how well our FCS students achieved at that level makes every cent spent by this county invaluable,” Steiner said.

There is a $10 registration fee for each student. Schools, PTAs and businesses can sponsor every child in one school for a flat donation of $200. Before registering an individual student or team, check with the school’s ITS to see if the school is sponsored, Daughtery said.

Anyone interested in sponsoring students can contact Karen Daughtery at kdaughtery@forsyth.k12.ga.us.

For more information or to register a project, go to techfair.forsyth.k12.ga.us.