Christopher Columbus Awards | Innovation Generation | Middle School Students Making a Difference
Winning Teams: Finalists 2003

Winning Teams

Finalists 2003
Entry Title:
 Match Box Lox
Coach:
 Steven Loyd
School:
 Hyde Park Middle School
City/State:
 Las Vegas, Nevada
Problem:
 Injuries caused by playing with matches.
Solution:
 Placing a lock onto the matchbox or matchbook to keep children from playing with matches.

Entry Title:
 Worms for Hire
Coach:
 Kendra Larmour
School:
 River Bluff Middle School
City/State:
 Stoughton, Wisconsin
Problem:
 Fertilizers in lawn runoff polluting Virgin Lake.
Solution:
 Education awareness program to inform the community about lawn runoff pollution and their composting options.

Entry Title:
 Purple Martin Houses
Coach:
 Russ Tepen
School:
 Carlinville Middle School
City/State:
 Carlinville, Illinois
Problem:
 The effects that West Nile Virus concerns have on the people and the community.
Solution:
 Create Purple Martin colonies and an education program about them. Purple Martin's are birds that would control the mosquito population.

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Entry Title:
 Now You See It — Now You Don't
Coach:
 Jon Hood
School:
 Bexley Middle School
City/State:
 Bexley, Ohio
Problem:
 Excessive amounts of animal carcasses clogging landfills and incinerators.
Solution:
 Morality Composting — burying a dead animal in a compost pile of sawdust where it will decompose quickly and with no odor.

Entry Title:
 Walk N' Rest
Coach:
 Diane Rabalais
School:
 Fontainebleau Junior High School
City/State:
 Mandeville, Louisiana
Problem:
 Poor design of current walkers.
Solution:
 Redesign current walkers so they include lights for better vision and movement at night and a seat do the person can stop and rest when needed.

Entry Title:
 Glass with Class
Coach:
 Rahonda Everett
School:
 Central Elementary School
City/State:
 Huntsville, Alabama
Problem:
 Glass no longer being recycled in the community.
Solution:
 Using recycled glass to create furniture.

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Entry Title:
 Turtle Troopers
Coach:
 Michelle Ruthenberg
School:
 Ripley's Aquarium Marine Science Camp
City/State:
 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Problem:
 Man made elements, such as lights, affecting the hatching of sea turtles.
Solution:
 Create and implement an education program for the community, it's schools and visitors about the importance of the sea turtles and what is needed to be done to keep them from becoming extinct.

Entry Title:
 The Scald Stopper 3000
Coach:
 Carrie Reardon
School:
 Grace E. Metz Junior High School
City/State:
 Manassas, Virginia
Problem:
 Scald burns resulting from bathtub water that is too hot.
Solution:
 The Scald Stopper 3000 — a removable device that encases the tubs faucet and drain and keeps the hot water away from kids.

Entry Title:
 SSS: Sensors Saving Students
Coach:
 Joan Hurd
School:
 A.M. Kulp Elementary School
City/State:
 Hatfield, Pennsylvania
Problem:
 Danger of getting off the school bus and crossing the street because vehicles illegally pass stopped school buses.
Solution:
 School bus that will alert students that a car was passing the bus — this equipment would also take a picture of the car license plate so that a ticket could be issued.

Entry Title:
 Helping Kids Be Safer Pedestrians
Coach:
 Kathy Drozd
School:
 Highland Park Middle School
City/State:
 Highland Park, New Jersey
Problem:
 Too much traffic going through town causing danger for kids at crosswalks.
Solution:
 Kid Friendly crossing event. Make 4th and 5th Avenue crosswalks more visible, add blinking lights to alert driver to the crosswalks, move the parking spaces back from the crosswalks and move traffic stop lines.

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