Christopher Columbus Awards | Innovation Generation | Middle School Students Making a Difference
Semifinalists 2008

2008 Semifinalist Teams

Entry Title:
 PMSU: Portable Multi-Sensory Unit
Coach:
 Rhonda Epstein
School:
 Solana Pacific Elementary
City/State:
 San Diego, CA
Problem:
 Children with severe multiple disabilities (SMD) often do not receive adequate sensory stimulation.
Solution:
 PMSU: Portable Multi-Sensory Unit; a sensory stimulation device for severe multiple disabilities that is portable and adjustable.

Entry Title:
 R.E.C.S: Recycling Environmental Cart System
Coach:
 Terry Allinger
School:
 Challenger Middle School
City/State:
 San Diego, CA
Problem:
 Amount of time it takes to sort the school's recyclables.
Solution:
 R.E.C.S: Recycling Environmental Cart System; a transportable cart that helps separate cans and bottles.

Entry Title:
 Greased Lighting
Coach:
 Anne Burlingame
School:
 Rock Lake Middle School
City/State:
 Longwood, FL
Problem:
 Students exposure to the dangers of lightning strikes because school emergency actions and procedures are too confusing.
Solution:
 Install the WeatherBug system at the school to capture weather data and identify lighting threats and implement mass communications alerts to all parents.

Entry Title:
 CFL Quadcyclers
Coach:
 Hector Ibarra
School:
 West Branch Middle School
City/State:
 West Branch, IA
Problem:
 Environmental damage from the improper disposal of compact florescent lights.
Solution:
 Outreach program to educate the community about the importance of recycling compact florescent lightbulbs.

Entry Title:
 The Luminators
Coach:
 Hector Ibarra
School:
 West Branch Middle School
City/State:
 West Branch, IA
Problem:
 Unnecessary energy waste at school.
Solution:
 Retrofit the current T12 or T8 florescent lighting system with T8 dimming ballasts with photo sensors.

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Entry Title:
 Making a Kase for Mobile Home Safety
Coach:
 Hector Ibarra
School:
 West Branch Middle School
City/State:
 West Branch, IA
Problem:
 Damage and deaths from mobile home fires.
Solution:
 Community outreach program to educate everyone about the dangers of mobile homes manufactured before 1976 and the need to upgrade those electrical systems.

Entry Title:
 Test Taking Tool Box
Coach:
 Telia Gilcrest
School:
 Highlands Enhanced Learning
City/State:
 Shawnee Mission, KS
Problem:
 Performance scores being affected by the stress students feel before and during standardized tests.
Solution:
 "Test Taking Tool Box": a box containing orange wedges, a cheese stick and a CD of soft music, where each item helps to relieve stress, resulting in better grades.

Entry Title:
 That's One Cool Hot Plate!
Coach:
 Diane Rabalais
School:
 Fontainebleau Junior High School
City/State:
 Mandeville, LA
Problem:
 Food being served at the wrong temperature.
Solution:
 The Hot Cool Plate: a battery operated heating and cooling plate for food items.

Entry Title:
 Quail Gone Quiet
Coach:
 Suzanne Greenwood
School:
 St. Therese School
City/State:
 Parkville, MO
Problem:
 The decline in Missouri's Bobwhite quail population.
Solution:
 Outreach program to educate the community about the importance and rehabilitation of the Bobwhite quail population.

Entry Title:
 Rapid Rescue
Coach:
 Kathleen Sgro
School:
 Carl W. Goetz Middle School
City/State:
 Jackson, NJ
Problem:
 School safety.
Solution:
 Rapid Rescue: a transmitter that would be worn on the teacher's name badge that signals an alarm when pushed.

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Entry Title:
 Catch a Breath
Coach:
 Stephen Kubricki
School:
 All Saints Regional Catholic School
City/State:
 Manahawkin, NJ
Problem:
 Poor air quality at the school.
Solution:
 Regulating the school's ventilation system on a timed computer-generated program as well as enact legislation to closely regulate schools' ventilation and air quality.

Entry Title:
 The Defensive Pedestrian Safety Squad
Coach:
 Mary Griffin
School:
 Timberlane Middle School
City/State:
 Pennington, NJ
Problem:
 Hazardous walking situations in the community due to the location of State Route 31.
Solution:
 Outreach program to teach the community how to be defensive pedestrians.

Entry Title:
 Worm Masters
Coach:
 Melissa Savino
School:
 St. Agnes School
City/State:
 Avon, NY
Problem:
 Growing landfills polluting the earth.
Solution:
 Compost organic waste using worms.

Entry Title:
 Never Too Old to Learn or Never Too Young to Teach
Coach:
 William Schmidt x
School:
 The Laurel Hill School
City/State:
 East Setauket, NY
Problem:
 Large number of people over the age of 60 who don't know how to use the Internet.
Solution:
 Education outreach program to teach seniors how to use the computer.

Entry Title:
 Contamination Clean Up
Coach:
 Liz Karns
School:
 Northern Lights Learning Center
City/State:
 Ithaca, NY
Problem:
 Dangerous pollution of Fall Creek.
Solution:
 Install an activated carbon filtration system to clean out the lead, arsenic and other contaminants.

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Entry Title:
 The Leaducators
Coach:
 Eileen Anderson
School:
 Island Trees Middle School
City/State:
 Levittown, NY
Problem:
 Lead contaminated painted toys.
Solution:
 Outreach program to educate the community about lead poisoning.

Entry Title:
 Life Savers
Coach:
 Eileen Anderson
School:
 Island Trees Middle School
City/State:
 Levittown, NY
Problem:
 Children and pets injured from being left in hot cars too long.
Solution:
 An alarm that would be built into an infant car seat that would sound when the CO2 levels in the car reach a certain threshold, alerting the community that a baby was in the car.

Entry Title:
 The Inflatanators
Coach:
 Eileen Anderson
School:
 Island Trees Middle School
City/State:
 Levittown, NY
Problem:
 Children drowning at the beach.
Solution:
 A belt that contains a life preserver and inflates to save the swimmer when a string is pulled.

Entry Title:
 Safety Swinger
Coach:
 Brian Mulcahy
School:
 Birch Lane Elementary School
City/State:
 Massapequa Park, NY
Problem:
 Falling backwards off playground swings.
Solution:
 Adding a back to the swing to reduce the risk of injury.

Entry Title:
 Freedom Chair
Coach:
 Brian Mulcahy
School:
 Birch Lane Elementary School
City/State:
 Massapequa Park, NY
Problem:
 How frightened wheelchair-bound people are in a fire.
Solution:
 Adding a motorized rubber tread to the base of the wheelchair to help it go up and down stairs.

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Entry Title:
 The Water Detector Connectors
Coach:
 Beth Guzzetta
School:
 Allendale Columbia School
City/State:
 Rochester, NY
Problem:
 Basement flooding.
Solution:
 Universal emergency water detector that alerts occupants of a house when it detects water.

Entry Title:
 Trash to Treasure
Coach:
 Lindsay Young
School:
 Bexley City Schools
City/State:
 Bexley, OH
Problem:
 Depletion of fossil fuels.
Solution:
 Use the methane gas produced at landfills as an alternative source of energy.

Entry Title:
 Backpack Attack!
Coach:
 Nancy Sauers
School:
 Holland Middle School
City/State:
 Holland, PA
Problem:
 Heavy backpacks causing back, neck and shoulder pain.
Solution:
 Raise awareness of the harm caused by heavy backpacks, implement backpack-lightening habits and introduce the L-Pak, a device that helps take a shoulder pack and turn it into a roller pack.

Entry Title:
 Exhausted? We Are!
Coach:
 Daryl Grantham
School:
 Pin Oak Middle School
City/State:
 Bellaire, TX
Problem:
 Adjacent freeway polluting the school's air quality.
Solution:
 Improve monitoring of air quality, institute steps to reduce emissions and begin communication with the community about air pollution.

Entry Title:
 Take a Hike
Coach:
 Jamie Scott
School:
 Pin Oak Middle School
City/State:
 Bellaire, TX
Problem:
 Lack of outdoor family activities adding to the current obesity problem among the young.
Solution:
 Take a Hike program: a five hike program aimed at increasing family time while getting exercise and learning about nature.

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Entry Title:
 Sunbusters: Safe-Tea Sunscreen
Coach:
 Laura Wilbanks
School:
 Science Rock U
City/State:
 Whiteface, TX
Problem:
 Skin cancer.
Solution:
 Outreach program designed to educate the community about skin cancer and ways to avoid it.

Entry Title:
 S.T.O.P.S.
Coach:
 Kendra Larmour
School:
 River Bluff Middle School
City/State:
 Stoughton, WI
Problem:
 Pedestrians getting hit in the community.
Solution:
 Create a pedestrian safety curriculum for elementary students so they can be taught good safety skills at an early age.

Entry Title:
 Compost Crew
Coach:
 Kendra Larmour
School:
 River Bluff Middle School
City/State:
 Stoughton, WI
Problem:
 Quickly filling landfills.
Solution:
 Start a composting program at school for organic food waste.

Entry Title:
 Think Outside the Menu
Coach:
 Kendra Larmour
School:
 River Bluff Middle School
City/State:
 Stoughton, WI
Problem:
 Food allergies and unawareness of ingredients used at restaurants.
Solution:
 A color-coded chart that informs the patron as to what ingredients are in what dish, helping them to make a decision as to what to eat.

Entry Title:
 The Teddy Bear Connection
Coach:
 Kendra Larmour
School:
 River Bluff Middle School
City/State:
 Stoughton, WI
Problem:
 Emotional effects of foster care.
Solution:
 A recorded message from the foster child's parent inside a stuffed animal for comfort.

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