Courtesy of Saint Vincent de Paul School SALT LAKE CITY — Invention is a creative process. An open and curious mind enables one to see beyond what is known. Seeing a new possibility, a new connection or relationship can spark an invention. The minds of Saint Vincent de Paul School first-graders were sparked to invent something last month. They were asked to interview family members about inventions, come up with something they wanted to invent, design it and then share it with their classmates at the Invention Convention, which was held April 8 at the school. On Monday of that week, the first-graders brought in their "secret" invention, which was concealed inside a box. Boxes ranged from large to small, oblong to wide, exciting the students’ curiosity and making them guess about the contents. On Tuesday, Judge Memorial Catholic High School students Robert Garlinghouse and Mat Kestle brought in invention workbooks they had created. Working with the first-graders, they taught the students about famous inventions that the first-graders use in their everyday life, such as the TV, stapler and Scotch tape. In addition, the workbooks included fun activities word searches and coloring pages. On Wednesday, Patrick Johnson, an inventor of the robot mechanism used for things such as filling Twinkies, came in and talked to the students about his invention. He told the students to be creative, curious and never give up because they have a brain and that with their brain they could try, try again until their invention worked. He mentioned that he never gave up and that his first invention wasn’t until he was 44 years old. He also explained how robots can work faster than humans, helping to streamline production, such as the filling of Twinkies. "The most interesting fact was about the cupcake and how the holes were in the top of the cake whereas the Twinkie hole was in the bottom," first-grader Katelyn Mathews said. Sadie Dubois commented that Johnson was a fabulous inventor. On Thursday, students took a field trip to Sweets Candy and toured the plant, seeing in action all of the machines that help make the different candies. "I learned that it takes seven days to make a jelly bean," Abby Tang said. On Friday, the students finally revealed their inventions at the "Invention Convention." Parents and Judge students Mat Kestle and Chris Bell helped set up a platform "soap" box for the inventions to be displayed. As each student was called up, their invention was placed on the box and they were given an inventor’s hat. The first-graders then unveiled their invention; explaining what it did and why they created it. "I couldn’t believe how creative the inventions were", said first-grade teacher Joanne Pence. "This week sparked our students’ imaginations and produced some great inventors." While all the inventions were ingenious, some of the highlights were Emily Blair’s "Jolly Trolley," which was a pulley system with a box that went into her mom’s car and allowed her to have things transported to the back seat with ease; Indya Fiessinger "Magic Heart from God," a stuffed heart helping people to love one another; Genevieve Johnson’s "Light Turn Off-er," a long extension pole so she could turn off the light without getting out of bed; and Tanner Hall’s "Sock Popper," which used the air from an electric popcorn popper and by connecting tubes, placed his socks to dry while also making a healthy snack. Kelsie Kruckenberg’s "Battery-charged Chandelier" was made of hangers and electric candles so she could have a beautiful chandelier anywhere she went, and Jackson Green’s "CleanaBot" was a robot on roller skates that had a tube attached to one hand to suck up things and a dust pan on the other to scoop up mess and even a voice-activated button that asked what you wanted clean.
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