BCoE support helps area students compete – updated
May 14, 2009
STARKVILLE, Miss. – All of history’s great inventors were once children, but could the next Thomas Edison be sitting in a Starkville classroom?
It’s a possibility, according to judges of the Sally Ride Science TOYChallenge. After winning the southeast regional preliminary competition, a student team from Armstrong Middle School will compete in this week’s national finals at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va.
The TOYChallenge competition engages students in grades 5-8 in science and engineering processes by asking them to develop an innovative toy. Teams, which must be 50 percent female, follow an eight-step engineering design process, developing an idea from concept to completion.
“The TOYChallenge helps students see that engineering is not just building bridges or mixing chemicals in a lab – it’s solving problems,” explained Eric Heiselt, the Bagley College of Engineering (BCoE) director of outreach and support programs. “Letting these kids work to solve a problem lets them see that a future in engineering is a possibility for them.”
In a process that began last August, the Starkville team, known as the Armstrong Toy Visionaries, created a mechanized jump rope on a $300 budget. Although a local BCoE alumnus helped mentor the team, the students were responsible for the projects execution, including designing and building a prototype, problem solving and journaling all of their activities.
“In this competition, the students really get a feel for what engineering is like. They have to consider their requirements and restrictions while executing their idea,” Heiselt said. “They did a lot of brainstorming to develop their idea and learned to think outside the box. For instance, if their first choice of a material wasn’t practical, they were able to use engineering processes to find a logical alternative.”
At the national competition, the students will be judged against approximately 100 other entries in the categories of originality, creativity, engineering, and design process. Each team will also set-up a display for their prototype and deliver a brief presentation to the judges. While the school must provide the $300 competition budget for all materials, local sponsors, including the BCoE, have helped provide support for the team’s travel.
Armstrong Middle School math teacher, Chad Sorrells, coaches the Armstrong Toy Visionaries. The team members include:
• Dasha Bondarenko, seventh grade, daughter of Volodymyr Bondarenko and Olga Knoyuzko
• Roxxane Raven, eighth grade, daughter of Matt Raven and Ann Rahmir-Raven
• Jacob Legget, eighth grade, son of Samuel and Kimberley Legget
• Jalen Campbell, eight grade, son of Reggie and Angie Campbell
• Stacie Young, eighth grade, daughter of Glover and Sandra Young
• Andrew Schulz, eighth grade, son of Kirk and Noel Schulz
UPDATE: The Armstrong Middle School Toy Visionaries received an honorable mention for engineering at the 2009 TOYChallenge. This was the schools first time to participate in the national competition.
For information about BCoE outreach programs and activities, contact Eric Heiselt.