CCS inventors strive to make their world a better place

CORNWALL — Need better sleep, your own space, a light that runs on water power, a hands-free way to video your ski runs or for your mailbox to do something other than just sit there?

The Cornwall Consolidated School sixth- and seventh-graders under the direction of sience teacher Kathy West have it covered.

The Invention Convention, held April 10 was the culmination of weeks of work, much of it trial and error. The students learned to be true inventors. Winners may go on to the state convention next month. And who knows? Maybe at least one of them will end up with a patent.

There is probably nothing more difficult than coming up with a truly original idea. Inventing something entirely new was an option. So was improving an existing product. The latter was prevalent, because if there is anything middle-schoolers know, it’s what annoys them. That is the mother of invention here. 

During presentations throughout the morning for the judges, the students talked most often about ideas for improving life’s varied irritants or about ways to improve their lives and those of others. 

Developing prototypes offered a chance to work out bugs and demonstrate successes.

Seventh-grader Trevor Hampson took first place with his Procap,  a rubber piece that goes under a swim cap and over the top of swimming goggles to keep them in place, and keep them from leaking, while diving.

In sixth grade, Micah Matsudaira took first with Mail Mover.   Inspired in part by this past winter, a pulley system brings the mailbox to the house — a handy idea for the disabled or for when snow piles high, or for anyone with a mailbox at the end of a long driveway.

It seems you can always build a better mailbox. There were three in this convention, and they were all winners.

Seventh-grader Danielle Gorat designed a spring-mounted mailbox — the Flex Box — that is less likely to break when hit by a snow plow. It also has a bracket to hold packages. Ingenious — and a second-place winner.

Making ideas and objects

It was interesting to see the lists of ideas students came up with. Most often, they found someone else had already had the same idea. In some cases, they just couldn’t get excited about an idea, as Arieh Saed described an idea for a device that warns when the toilet paper is low. 

Instead of that, he designed and developed the Chair Cove, giving an enthusiastic presentation and details of help he received on the prototype from his neighbors, Bianca and Richard Griggs.

They put together a chair with a neon green tent over it that is Arieh’s attempt at finding a way to do his homework without being distracted by his brother, Danny.

He suggested it could be marketed for both students and business people.

Abby Larson was inspired by her mom’s work as a health care provider to develop the Safety Walker, which is outfitted with straps and bags to cushion falls.

Alden Weigold raises rabbits. With a few dozen of them, feeding was time-consuming, until he invented the Bunny Feeder, a pipe with disks that slide in and out to distribute a supply of feed poured into the top.

Natalie Nestler considered a vibrating necklace to keep students from zoning out in class or a binder that beeps when it needs organizing (both too difficult to make) or an oven mitt holder that hangs handily over the stove (too, ironically, dangerous). Instead, she developed the Super Sleeper  to keep sleeping bags from sliding off the bunk at summer camp. 

Yes, she told the judges, she has fallen out of bed at camp.

Judges were Nancy Martin, Jim LaPorta, Hunt Williams, David Lindsay and Dave Cadwell. Their job was to score on originality, purpose and cleverness of the inventions; and on the presentation, including the information board and student confidence.

During a short break, LaPorta mentioned going to the state science fair when he was a high school junior. He was urged to tell more, and described a steel vortex tube that, when injected with forced air, separated molecules to produce cold air from one end and hot from the other. 

“It was loud and had no practical applications, so I didn’t win, but it was fun to be able to make it,” he said.

And there’s more!

Also winning at the CCS convention were:

• Myah Baird with her Sleep Magic, a heated pillow that smells nice and plays music from an iPhone; and Ian Danforth-Gold with his Gnat Net,  an umbrella with insect netting attached to it. They tied for third in seventh grade.

• Honorable mentions went to Sage Shepard with the Pillow Pack, a backpack with an inflatable pillow attached, for sleeping while traveling; and to Zyaja Huggan for Health-O-Rama, a family board game that combines exercise with health knowledge.

In sixth grade, Keaton Terrall took second place with Ski Pro, a device that attaches a smart phone to a ski binding.

Third place went to Aubrey Johnson with her Stylist Strap, to keep hairstyling tools handy.