Inventions range from cupholders for wheelchairs to misting umbrella
The sky was the limit during South Sanpete School District’s fourth annual Innovation Week, Nov. 1-5.
According to Jodi Anderson, innovation trainer for the district, more than 1,500 students, representing all schools in the district, participated in the event.
Students chose what they wanted to design, build, craft, produce, construct, write, draw, compose, invent, discover, create and explore, she said. At the end of the week, judges looked over the entries at the secondary schools and chose winners. There were five or six winners in each middle school and high school.
Superintendent Ralph Squire and Assistant Superintendent Trevor Powell presented winners with prizes and certificates. Prizes from local businesses were randomly given to the secondary students and teachers who participated. Students at the elementary schools received an ice cream sandwich.
Anderson said that Innovation Week has only three guidelines:
• Students can only enter once.
• Entries should be presented in a digital way.
• All entries must be created during the 2021-22 school year.
Students used their iPads to present their projects. For example, if a student created something, the student could make a video of the project with the iPAD and submit the video as his or her entry.
Some examples of entries from Gunnison Valley High School include a song written from sounds on the farm, a cup holder for a wheelchair, a Star Wars Lego animation video, sketches of a prom dress and photographic illusions.
Manti High School student entries included a recipe for crème brulee, an original song, a gun case with a lock that could be opened with a card similar to a credit card, an infomercial for a vacation and a few original dances.
Ephraim Middle School came up with a stained-glass dragon, a movie trailer that featured characters from an original story, a pong game created in Scratch software and a pool table made out of a box.
Gunnison Valley Middle School created an umbrella that sprays a mist of water on hot days, a clever way to add patches to pants with holes, a pencil holder attached to pants and a dissolvable straw.
Teachers were a tremendous support in this endeavor, Anderson said. They gave students time to work, taught them how to use digital tools and offered encouragement.
Technology specialists at school sites were key to making the week a success, Anderson said. They set up the technology so students could display their presentations. They also took pictures and made a school video of participants and entries.
