Can you think of an invention that will create safer ways for students to get to school? Fourth-grader Isadora De Lima Zafred dreamed one up at an innovation workshop in December at her elementary school, Trinity Academy, in Hartford.
“First, I was starting on trying to build a bike with a shield, but that didn't really work. Then I started thinking about, let's build a car,” Zafred said. “Let's do something about accidents.”
Zafred came up with a smart car safety system that would regulate the car’s speed to 35 mph near school zones and use alerts to keep drivers and pedestrians aware of their surroundings to prevent accidents.
The idea came together through the Connecticut Invention Convention (CIC), an education non-profit, which hosted the workshop where Zafred and several other students between the second and fourth grade designed and built prototypes of their inventions.
The students then participated in a Shark Tank-style challenge where they presented their inventions to a panel of judges. Zafred was recognized for her invention.
“I felt proud of myself,” Zafred said. “I won an Amazon tablet, and I also won a medal that says ‘Invention Convention’ on it.”
Zafred was invited to participate in a free weekly virtual innovation program that runs after school. In the program, Zafred will be further developing her invention for another innovation workshop that Trinity Academy and CIC will host later in the spring.
“I got a little notebook to write all my ideas when I do it,” Zafred said.
If her invention wins the Shark Tank-style competition at that workshop, it will be entered into the CIC State Finals at the University of Connecticut on May 2.
Cultivating independent thinkers
Nick Briere, who oversees the Connecticut Invention Convention as the CEO of Next Minds, likes to think of the program as “Shark Tank meets science fair.”
“Kids identify problems in their own lives that matter to them… Over the course of our program, [students] identify ways to solve those problems using creative problem solving and innovation, creating products to solve them,” Briere said.
According to Briere, hundreds of educators across Connecticut participate. Trinity Academy joined those ranks with its first innovation workshop last December.
Briere is a member of Trinity Academy advisory’s board. When he first toured the school, Briere said he was impressed.
“It's a really dynamic learning environment. It's kind of like comparing a startup to a large corporation. Startups are scrappier and they're more innovative, and that's kind of how I think of Trinity Academy,” Briere said.
Trinity Academy is an independent and tuition-free elementary school located inside a church in Hartford. The school has classrooms, lockers, a library and a small auditorium with a stage that serves 32 children kindergarten through fourth grade.
Barton Darney is the development director at the school. She said the school aims to create problem solvers and critical thinkers out of their students.
“We want them to be independent thinkers and confident in their ideas. [The CIC program] is really a process that allows them to build those skills and feel good about themselves,” Darney said.
Darney said the CIC program not only serves as a tool to help the staff at Trinity Academy weave innovation throughout their curriculum, it also gives them a chance to provide opportunities for the families of these students, who are primarily from underserved communities in Hartford.
During the CIC workshop in December, parents participated in a financial literacy workshop at Trinity Academy while their children built their prototypes.
“Our kids face a lot of challenges at home, and we do whatever we can to support the family so that they can come into school and learn,” Darney said.
Shaping the next generation of ‘Shark Tank’ inventors
Trinity Academy will be hosting its next invention convection event in the spring. Darney said she thinks even more kids will participate that time around.
Fourth grader Jorielis Carrillo could be one of them. She had a taste of what the workshop is like during an exercise with CIC during a morning meeting in class.
“I made a backpack with a lamp in it, so when you hang it up, you could turn the light on so you don't lose your backpack or anything,” Carrillo said.
Carrillo said she thinks all kids should give invention a try.
“It will give you more ideas, like maybe one day when you grow up, you will be a special creator of something, and a lot of people will think, ‘Oh, this person is a good creator, and I want to buy it one day,’” Carrillo said.
