Westside Middle School students get ready for Invention Convention

Westside Middle School Academy students displayed their inventions on March 22 at the school’s “Invention Convention.” There were 130 students – 100 in sixth grade and 30 from seventh grade - showing off their projects in the school’s cafeteria.

WSMSA sixth-grade student Michaela Quinn said her idea came from her grandfather who suffers from kidney failure and is on dialysis. Michaela said he often falls asleep before the process is over and then has to take the steps over again. “Stop! Wake and clamp” is a scale system that sounds an alarm when the dialysis process is over.

Cassandra Plank Pinto had her grandmother in mind when she came up with “Fantastic Fish 5000.” The remote control fish feeding system means that her grandmother doesn’t have to walk up a flight of stairs to feed the fish. Once activated, a conveyer belt delivers the food right into the fish bowl.

“I learned how to work with wires, both live and not live,” Cassandra said.

A surplus of snow last year and a shortage of time led to Drew Talarico’s invention: “The Super Shovel.” He and his brother are charged with plowing their long driveway in addition to an already busy schedule. The Super Shovel is three shovels attached to make a plow that can be pushed through the snow, rather than lifted.

On Thursday, WSMSA students will have their projects judged at the districtwide Invention Convention at Western Connecticut State University. Winners will head to the 33rd annual
Connecticut Invention Convention on Saturday, April 30, at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. More than 130 Connecticut schools and thousands of young inventors participate every year. On Wednesday, March 23, the hundreds of the district’s elementary school students will compete at WestConn for a chance at the state competition.

The Invention Convention is part of the science curriculum. For three weeks students engage in coming up with ideas and putting them into motion. One of the crucial learning curves for students is to figure out how to solve problems with their inventions and tweak them to perfection. The invention convention fosters interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics learning for students from kindergarten through eighth grade.