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<\/p>\nThe early bird gets the worm, advises the well-known proverb.<\/p>\n
It proved to be true for two teams who arrived early to the school division\u2019s third annual Maker Expo held Feb. 17 at the Advanced Technology Center.<\/p>\n
Members of Salem High School\u2019s 3D Devils team were set up and standing by their product board more than an hour before the event began. The Great Neck Middle School Flaming Rays set up the first middle school display down the hall. Four hours later in a closing awards ceremony, each team won first place in the Maker Expo\u2019s overall category for their respective school levels.<\/p>\n
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The Maker Expo was added as complementary event to the school division\u2019s annual Robotics Challenge three years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Maker Expo came as an idea to get more kids involved with STEM and to get more teachers involved as mentors. It was added in as a way to attract a student with a little different approach. Some might say, \u2018I\u2019m not interested in robotics. I don\u2019t want to do any remote control stuff but I might want to build something or design something,\u2019\u201d explained Charles Hurd, coordinator of engineering and technology education in the school division\u2019s Office of Technical and Career Education.<\/p>\n
Hurd\u2019s colleague Stephanie Walters, STEM and entrepreneurial program specialist, agreed that the event is another pathway to peak students\u2019 interests.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought, let\u2019s explore something where kids can be imaginative and create things they\u2019ve never even thought about. We\u2019ll have a Maker Expo. We\u2019ll use the 3D printers we have deployed in a lot of schools,\u201d said Walters. \u201cWe really want to promote entrepreneurship and provide opportunities for them to be creative and promote their own ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 40 student teams from 29 schools accepted the challenge in October to design, create, package and promote new inventions for year\u2019s task \u2013 to create a product related to adaptive technology to assist persons or animals with disabilities.<\/p>\n
Some of the new product names included: Cliparooni, Finger Fire, Key Helper 5000, Faucet Friend, Simple Reader, A+ Organizer, Focus 360, The Hold Up, Easy Key, Headache Halo and Sporky. One team created The Fantastic Fin to help sea turtles escape from fishing nets.<\/p>\n
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A panel of judges evaluated teams in four categories \u2013 infomercial, product pitch, product package and product poster \u2013 and medals and ribbons were awarded to the top teams in select categories and for overall performance. The 12 overall winners advance to the Maker Challenge held at the STEM Trifecta June 8.<\/p>\n
In a new twist to the Maker Expo, event organizers introduced Wild Card winners that were randomly selected at the end of the awards ceremony by Superintendent Aaron Spence. He was asked to draw one team name for each of the three school levels, and those teams automatically qualified to join the 12 overall winners at the final Maker Challenge. Three teams very surprised and very excited teams, who thought they were out of the competition, accepted Maker Expo medals onstage from Spence and Sara Lockett, director of the Office of Technical and Career Education.<\/p>\n
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Congratulations to all of the 2017 Maker Expo award winners!<\/p>\n
Overall Winners \u2013 Elementary School Level<\/strong><\/p>\n First place:\u00a0 Waveriders, Ocean Lakes<\/p>\n Second place: Dope Dogs, Bettie F. Williams<\/p>\n Third place:\u00a0 The Nerds, Creeds<\/p>\n Wild Card: 4 Creators, Thoroughgood<\/p>\n Overall Winners \u2013 Middle School Level<\/strong><\/p>\n First place: Flaming Rays, Great Neck<\/p>\n Second place:\u00a0 The Last Straw, Larkspur<\/p>\n Third place:\u00a0 Trojan Time Engineers, Plaza<\/p>\n Wild Card: 3D Musketeerzzzzzz<\/p>\n Overall Winners \u2013 High School Level<\/strong><\/p>\n First place:\u00a0 3D Devils, Salem<\/p>\n Second place:\u00a0 Technical and Career Education Center, Senior Team<\/p>\n Third place:\u00a0 The Brainiacs, Ocean Lakes<\/p>\n Wild Card: Power Tuff Girls, Landstown<\/p>\n Infomerical Winners <\/strong><\/p>\n Elementary School: Seahawk Scientists, W. T. Cooke<\/p>\n Middle School: The Mavericks, Brandon<\/p>\n High School: Junior Team, Technical and Career Education Center<\/p>\n Top Product Pitch<\/strong><\/p>\n Elementary School: JSR, Inc., Thoroughgood<\/p>\n Middle School: MACE, Plaza<\/p>\n High School: Power Tuff Girls, Landstown<\/p>\n