Budding engineers and inventors

Above, young inventors tweak a design during their Viking treasure hunt. In photo at left, students anticipate the next round of activities during the last day of Club Invention.

To see their wide smiles and hear their excited shouts you would guess it was all in fun — but there was a lot more going on at Siuslaw Elementary School last week than just a good time.

School was out but brainstorming was in as children scrambled to think, develop plans and invent.

The source of all the activity was a program for children entering grades 1 through 6, through a partnership between the school and Club Invention, an organization that designs enrichment programs encompassing engineering principles, inventive-thinking and teamwork in different environments.

“During the program they learn to solve challenges through creative problem solving,” said one of the program facilitators, elementary teacher Beckie Lupton. Lupton, along with colleagues Cindi Ramsey, Diane Conlee and Kassy Keppol, seemed as excited as the students. That fact could be considered amazing when you remember that the school year just ended the week before.

Although the course was well organized, creativity was allowed to flow, literally, as the school library burst at the seams with an array of colorful recycled materials, which the 45 students used to build bridges, robots, treasure chests, an assortment of tools and many never-before-seen inventions to complete assigned tasks.

On Thursday, the last day of the program, some students were conferring with team members to brave obstacles, such as breaching a large “crevasse” or traveling over ground dotted with “land mines” in order to solve a mystery and make their way to an ancient Viking treasure. Throughout the course, students investigated clues and solved puzzles.

Teams also used engineering principles to build functional land sleds. Each groups’ creation looked completely different, which was also a testament to the program’s success.

“We don’t copy, we are inventing,” said one of the younger girls who was busily helping her teammates construct their land sled.

Supporters of the program included the Florence Community PTA, which donated $500, and private donors, who provided additional funds. Scholarships were awarded to some students to attend the program.

For the complete article see the 06-30-2012 issue.

Click here to purchase an electronic version of the 06-30-2012 paper.

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