Contact: Linda Topoleski, 412-281-2345 or ltopoleski@dymun.com
Or: Prairie Star Middle School, Phone: 913-239-5661
Prairie Star Middle School Students Recognized in National Competition
Students Looking to Cushion Falls, Prevent Injuries with ‘Playground Mattress’
AUBURN, NY—April 8, 2003—Bright ideas, solid research and teamwork won three students from Prairie Star Middle School in Leawood, KS, a berth as semifinalists in the Christopher Columbus Awards, a nationwide program that challenges middle-school students to explore opportunities for positive change in their communities.
More than 200,000 children are rushed to hospital emergency rooms each year from playground injuries; 70 percent of these are due to falls on unsafe, uncushioned surfaces. These statistics prompted 8th graders Roni Sims, Rose Guo and Taylor Laemmli, and their teacher Peggy Harrington, to look for a way to soften the blow with a rubber mulch they call a ‘playground mattress.’
The team talked with school district safety supervisors, a playground surface company and officials with the National Program for Playground Safety to develop their project and tested various surfaces by dropping a bowling ball in test areas. The surface that worked best, they determined, was made of mulched rubber pellets which cushions the fall, does not cause splinters and does not require the ongoing maintenance that some other surfaces like blacktop or wood chips do.
"We all have younger brothers and sisters or neighbors and wanted to make playgrounds safer for them," the team said.
A panel of community leaders, scientists and experts in science education judged this idea as one of the top 30 Christopher Columbus Award entries in the U.S. Nearly 2,000 students participated nationwide.
A Chance to Compete at Walt Disney World®
On April 29, 10 of the 30 semifinalist teams will be named winners of an all-expense-paid trip to the Walt Disney World® Resort, where they will compete in the Christopher Columbus Award's National Championship, June 20-26.
Rewards include $36,000 in U.S. Savings Bonds for the top three national winners. In addition, one team will bring home the $25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant to help bring its idea to life in the community.
The finalists also will attend the Christopher Columbus Academy, a custom-designed educational program. Conducted by scientists, engineers and educators, the program reveals the science and technology behind the thrills and excitement of Epcot® and the Magic Kingdom®.
Positive Community Change
The Christopher Columbus Awards challenge teams of middle-school students to explore and discover opportunities for positive change in their communities using science and technology. Formerly known as the Bayer/NSF Award, the program is now in its seventh year and has attracted more than 12,000 students from diverse backgrounds all across the U.S. The program is sponsored by the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation with cooperation from the National Science Foundation, and it is endorsed by the National Middle School Association and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Past winners have included a group of Native American girls who built a study hall out of straw on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, and a group of students from New Jersey who developed a technology to help deaf athletes communicate with their coaches while on the playing field.
Strong Participation from Girls, Minorities
The program attracts many students who may not typically enter a science competition. More than half of the entrants are girls, and more than a fourth are from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, statistics that are higher than those of most science competitions. The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation believes the teamwork aspect and community focus draws a broader range of students to enter.
For more information, please call 1-800-291-6020 or visit www.christophercolumbusawards.com