Students presented a variety of solutions for a variety of ‘problems’

June 9, 2021 by Ken Leinart

The challenges were real.

Sorta.

Lucas Parfitt came up with an automatic spoon.

“See, it scoops up stuff as at turns,” he said of his STEM project.

Clinton City Schools’ STEM Camp ended last week and students showed off their creations. If you think an automatic spoon was the coolest gizmo though, you have another “think” coming.

Dylan Alcott and Everett Terry came up with a “Vampire Carnival,” complete with illustrations and prizes.

“The vampire is lonely so we made a carnival for him to make friends,” Alcott said, matter-of-factly.

The “carnival” involved — in one scenario — putting a Ping Pong ball in a catapult, then catapulting the ball into a cup. Land the ball in the cup and you get a prize. The duo was still working out the kinks in the system, but for the most part, it worked.

The illustrations were cool, too.

Tanner Zaid and Kylie Sky Hurst worked out something every elementary school-age kid needs (and possibly pirates): A system that, “keeps people out of your treasure chest.”

Those worked, too.

Zaid’s treasure chest was a bare cardboard box with a lid attached. If someone opened his treasure chest, a device on his arm gave a little electric tingle on a device attached to his wrist warning him of the violation.

Does it hurt?

“It just tingles,” he said.

Hurst’s treasure chest was decorated and held a different surprise for anyone attempting to break in. Open her treasure chest and a light comes on and an alarm sounds.

There were about a dozen displays at North Clinton Elementary School, ranging from robots to automatic spoons and, yes, a solution for the lonely vampire.