Q&A Oficial: Judging

In the Notebook Organization portion of the rubric it states for the contributors are identifiable section that the team number appears on the notebook, and all entries are signed or initialized by the student who wrote them. Our question: Would the existence of my name on the entries that I write count for said section instead of a signature? Additionally, do I need to add "SKERS" (our team name) to every page, or is the fact that it is on the cover satisfactory?

Thanks for the detailed question — both parts have clear answers directly from the criterion wording.

On signatures: the criterion's standard is "signed or initialed," and its purpose is simply to let a reader tell who wrote each entry. A student consistently writing their own name on the entries they authored satisfies that standard — it doesn't need to be a stylized or cursive signature, just something in the student's own hand that identifies them as the writer. Initials, a first name, or a full name all work as long as it's applied consistently enough that a judge can tell who wrote what throughout the notebook.

On the team number/name: the criterion only requires that it "appears on the notebook," not that it repeats on every page. Having SKERS on the cover satisfies this — you do not need to add it to every individual page.

One practical note: since this section is about identifying contributors consistently across the whole notebook, it's worth making sure every team member who writes an entry signs or initials it the same way each time, since inconsistent or missing marks on some entries (rather than the marking style itself) are what would actually cost points here.