Students' bright ideas pop up like lightbulbs

KENT — Can’t find your crayons or pastels? Wondering how to keep your fish happy while you change the water in the tank?

Imaginative and practical solutions to these and other knotty problems were on hand at the Kent Center School library Monday morning.

Julie Paine, a sixth-grader, showed off her "Project Betta Bowls," demonstrating how to put the fish in a temporary home — a small plastic container — while changing the water in the main bowl and testing the pH.

"The water where I live is pretty good," she said. "But people who live closer to town sometimes have to make an adjustment."

She had handy bottles of solutions to make water either more acid or alkaline.

David Sodorstrom, grade three, was explaining his Snap Tight Mailbox system — a spring-loaded flap that shuts the mailbox tight — but not too tight.

The inventor said he had to try several springs before he found one that was satisfactory.

Asked if he could next devise an apparatus that would prevent bills from making it into the mailbox, or better yet cause them to disappear altogether, he wrinkled his brow and said he would give the idea some thought.

Katherine Starr, grade two, said that her brother’s habit of leaving crayons in odd places inspired her notion. Placing a small nail in the end of her crayons, she is now able to rescue strays with a telescoping wand, equipped with a light and magnet.

By using a small nail, the artist still gets the use of 95 percent of a given crayon.

— Patrick L. Sullivan