Step 1: Enroll Team

ThinkQuest Projects

Only members of ThinkQuest Projects are eligible to participate in the ThinkQuest Narrative Competition. Teams must use the online publishing tools in ThinkQuest Projects to create their entries.

If you are not already a member of ThinkQuest Projects, you must first enroll. Visit the Projects: Enrollment section for more instructions.

Legal Authorization

Before you can create teams for the ThinkQuest Narrative Competition, a principal, head teacher, or other person who has the authority to sign legal documents on behalf of your school ("Signing Authority") must accept the ThinkQuest Competition Agreement on behalf of your school. Only one agreement per school is required, so if your Signing Authority has accepted this agreement in the past, s/he does not need to do so again.

To request authorization:

1. Log in to ThinkQuest, and click the Competition tab.
2. Click the Authorization Incomplete link.

3. Click the Request Authorization button.
4. An authorization request is automatically emailed to the person designated as your school's Signing Authority.
5. Your Signing Authority must follow the instructions in the email to digitally accept the ThinkQuest Competition Agreement.
6. You will receive an email confirmation when your authorization is complete.

If your Signing Authority does not receive the authorization request email or accidentally deletes it, you can resend the request.

To resend an authorization request:

1. Log in to ThinkQuest, and click the Competition tab.
2. Click the Authorization Incomplete link.
3. Click the Resend Request button.

Parental Permission

Before creating a team of students, you must obtain permission from their parents. To download the Consent Form for your country, visit the Documents page.

Create Team

You must create a team before adding members.

To create a team (Coach only):

1. Before creating a team, be sure to read the Team Requirements in the Rules. Teams that do not meet all the requirements will be disqualified from the competition.
2. Log in to ThinkQuest, and click the Competition tab.
3. Click the New Team button under "Narrative Competition."

4. Enter a team name.
5. Select an age division from the pull-down menu.
6. Select a topic and category from the pull-down menus.
7. In the "About Your Project" field, enter a brief description (can be edited later).
8. Select the membership type for the team.
   • Select "Open" to allow anyone in the ThinkQuest Projects community to request to join your team (write a brief message that describes what you are looking for in team members).
   • Select "Closed" to limit membership to students that you assign and teachers that you invite.
9. Select options for publishing and editing in the team project. All team members can create content, but the Coach sets publishing and editing privileges.
   • Publishing: Selecting "Yes" allows students to publish content they create, making it visible to all ThinkQuest Projects members. Selecting "No" places the responsibility of publishing on teacher members.
   • Editing: Selecting "Yes" allows students to edit and delete other students' content. Selecting "No" limits students to editing and deleting their own content.
10. Select answers to the survey questions using the pull-down menus.
11. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Create button.
12. If you are satisfied with the team information (click Back to make any edits), click the Save button.
13. Continue with the instructions below to add members to your team.

Add Students

All team members must be members of ThinkQuest Projects.

If you have made the team "Open Membership," refer to the Project Membership page for instructions on how to accept and decline membership requests. If you have made the team "Closed Membership," refer to the instructions below to add students.

To add a student from your own school:

1. Click the Competition tab.
2. Click the name of the appropriate team under My Teams.
3. Click the Members link in the menu on the left.
4. Click the Assign Students link.
5. Check the box(es) next to the student(s) you would like to assign.
6. Click the Assign button.
7. When you are finished assigning students, click the Done button.

To invite a student from another school in ThinkQuest Projects:

1. Click the Competition tab.
2. Click the name of the appropriate team under My Teams.
3. Click the Members link in the menu on the left.
4. Click the Invite a Teacher link. (Students must be assigned to teams by a teacher in their own school.)
5. Select "Choose a teacher from another school", select a country, and click the Enter button.
6. Select a location, school, and teacher, and write a brief invitation message.
7. Click the Enter button.
8. The message will be sent to the invited teacher. Once the teacher accepts your invitation, s/he can assign students from his/her school to the team.
   Warning! Note that the teacher will not be eligible for prizes if you do not designate him/her as the team's official Assistant Coach.

Invite Assistant Coach

Each team is allowed to have one Assistant Coach (optional), who must be a member of ThinkQuest Projects. Note that the Assistant Coach cannot be employed by the same school as the Coach.

If you have made the team "Open Membership," refer to the Project Membership page for instructions on how to accept and decline membership requests. If you have made the team "Closed Membership," refer to the instructions below to invite the Assistant Coach.

To invite an Assistant Coach:

1. Click the Competition tab.
2. Click the name of the appropriate team under My Teams.
3. Click the Members link in the menu on the left.
4. Click the Invite a Teacher link.
5. Select "Choose a teacher from another school", select a country, and click the Enter button.
6. Select a location, school, and teacher, and write a brief invitation message.
7. Click the Enter button. The message will be sent to the invited teacher.
8. Once the teacher accepts your invitation, go back to the team page, click the Members link in the menu on the left, and click the Assign Assistant Coach link.
9. Select "Choose a teacher from your team" and select the appropriate coach from the pull-down menu.
10. Click the Save button.

Edit Team

Only the Coach can edit team settings and remove members.

To edit team settings such as team name, age division, topic, etc.:

1. Click the Competition tab.
2. Click the Edit button under the name of the appropriate team in the My Teams list.

1. Make edits.
2. Click the Save button.

To remove members:

1. Click the Competition tab.
2. Click the name of the appropriate team under My Teams.
3. Click the Members link in the menu on the left.
4. Click the "Remove" link next to the member you want to remove.
5. In the pop-up window, click the Remove button to confirm removal.

Delete Team

Only the Coach can delete a team.

To delete a team:

1. Click the Competition tab.
2. Click the Delete button under the name of the appropriate team in the My Teams list.
   Warning! Please be sure you wish to delete the team, as a deleted team cannot be recovered under any circumstances.
3. On the next page, click the Delete button to confirm permanent deletion of the team and all associated project content.

Request to Join a Team

If you do not want to create your own team (or your teacher has not assigned you to a team), you can request to join an existing team. You can only join teams with Open Membership.

To find a team to join:

1. Click the Competition tab.
2. You can search for a team in several ways:
   • Active Teams: The "Active Teams" section lists teams with recent activity. Check the "Open Memberships Only" box to display only teams that have Open Membership.
   • Click any of the categories (such as "Arts & Entertainment" or "Books & Literature") in the center of the page to see a list of related teams. Then, click any of the links on the left to narrow the list. You can narrow the list so that you see only teams with Open Membership.
3. Click a team name to view the Team Summary page, which contains details about the team.

To request to join a team as a teacher member:

1. Go to the Team Summary page of the team you would like to join.
2. Click the Join button on the right side of the page.

3. Enter the reason you would like to join.
4. Click the Submit button. Your request will be sent to the team's Coach.
5. Once the Coach accepts your request, you will receive a message confirming that you are now a member of the team and can assign students from your school to the team.
6. If you are the team's Assistant Coach, ensure that the Coach designates you as the team's official Assistant Coach on the Members page. Otherwise, you will not be eligible for prizes.

To request to join a team as a student member, if the team already has a teacher from your school:

1. Go to the Team Summary page of the team you would like to join.
2. Click the Join button on the right side of the page.
3. Enter the reason you would like to join.
4. Click the Submit button. Your request will be sent to the teacher member from your school.
5. Once the teacher from your school accepts your request, you will receive a message confirming that you are now a member of the team.

To request to join a team as a student member, if the team does not already have a teacher from your school:

1. Go to the Team Summary page of the team you would like to join.
2. Click the Join button on the right side of the page.
3. Enter the reason you would like to join.
4. Because there are no teachers from your school in the team already, you will need to ask a teacher from your school to join with you by choosing a name from the "Choose a Teacher" menu.
5. Click the Submit button. A request will be sent to your teacher.
6. Once your teacher accepts your request, another request will be sent to the team's Coach.
7. Once the Coach accepts your teacher's request, you and your teacher will receive messages confirming that you are both members of the team.