Jan. 31, 2026 — Redmond — High school students in Redmond are working with mentors to turn classroom projects into research that can win at regional and national science fairs.
Future Forward Labs pairs students with experienced mentors and runs practical sessions that focus on how research is designed, not just what the results look like.
Future Forward Labs says judges at competitive U.S. science fairs reward projects that show clear planning.
The program’s recent STEM Research 101 webinar walked students through the core elements of strong research: start with a testable question, keep variables under control, decide measurable endpoints early, plan repetition and controls, and design experiments so the data can be analyzed meaningfully.
The emphasis is on design. A project that looks polished but lacks controls or repeatability will struggle against one that has fewer flashy results but a solid experimental plan.
Mentors at Future Forward Labs work with students to narrow broad interests into focused questions.
They help set up control groups, define what will be measured, and sketch out how many trials are needed for reliable results.
Students also get help planning for analysis. Collecting data without a pre-defined approach to statistics or comparison leaves judges with little to evaluate.
Future Forward Labs asks students to think about how they will analyze their numbers before they begin collecting them.
That approach changes how projects are run. It turns vague curiosity into a methodical study.
The program covers common pitfalls as well. Future Forward Labs warns students against questions that are too broad, experiments with uncontrolled variables, endpoints that are subjective rather than measurable, and one-off trials that cannot be repeated.
The webinar and follow-up blog posts go into detail on those “don’ts” and offer examples of how to fix them.
Mentors do more than teach experimental design. They help with project management. That includes setting realistic timelines, choosing appropriate equipment, logging data cleanly, and preparing presentations that explain methods clearly to judges.
Future Forward Labs says that mentored students tend to enter competitions with better documentation and clearer conclusions, two things judges note during scoring.
The benefits go beyond trophies. Students who learn to design reproducible experiments pick up skills useful in college labs and STEM careers.
They learn problem-solving, data literacy, and the habit of testing ideas systematically. Future Forward Labs frames mentoring as a bridge from high school science to real research practice.
The program is aimed at ambitious students who want guided, college-level preparation.
Future Forward Labs offers ongoing webinars, one-on-one mentoring, and written resources on its site for students and parents.
The STEM Research 101 materials are available to webinar attendees, and the program’s blog contains expanded checklists and examples for students preparing science-fair entries.
Parents and students interested in mentorship or upcoming sessions can find details and enrollment information on Future Forward Labs’ website.
The program supplied the information for this report. This article is based on materials and program descriptions provided by Future Forward Labs.
