Westside Middle School announces winners of Invention Convention
Ten students from the Westside Middle School Academy STEM program will move on to the regional level of the Connecticut Invention Convention.
On Friday, March 9, 100 sixth-grade students at WSMSA set up their inventions in the school’s cafeteria as a dozen judges asked questions and scrutinized their creations. The ten students are: Jacob Lamp, Jeffrey Trigueros, Maria Eduara Sousa Lopez, Alliyah Frank, Christian Fournier, Emily Samaniego, Joshua Maruffi, Ella Brown, Chase Tomanio, and Haley Jones.
On Sunday, March 18, these students will have their projects judged at the districtwide Invention Convention held at Western Connecticut State University. Winners will head to the 35th annual Connecticut Invention Convention held on Saturday, April 28, at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. More than 130 Connecticut schools and thousands of young inventors participate every year.
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.
Ella Brown’s invention is “The Perfect Parchment Pan,” a baking sheet equipped with a roller for parchment paper on one end and four hinges to hold the paper down on the sheet. She got the idea as a baking student at The Silo in New Milford.
“Whenever I’m baking, the parchment paper is falling off,” Ella explained.
Jeffrey Trigueros, who invented the “Drill Blower,” watched his dad spend too much time sweeping sawdust away during construction jobs. So he came up with a telescope-like attachment to the drill that takes in air and then blows the sawdust away from the surface.
Gabby Storms’ invention may not have made regionals, but her “The Forget Me Not” is an invention that helps those who leave belongings behind during the morning rush. By putting items on a mat equipped with a Bluetooth sensor, forgetful people will be notified on their phones as they walk out the door.
“I got the idea from forgetting supplies for school and I needed something to help me remember,” Gabby said.
Jon Neuhausel, WSMSA STEM theme coach and science teacher, has guided the students in the IC for the past five years and said that he has seen an improvement in communication skills and variety of topics and increase in positive feedback from the judges.