A team of seventh grade students from Hazelwood Central Middle School earned recognition for participating in the Toshiba ExploraVision contest, sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association.
Designed for kindergarten through 12th grade students of all interest, skill and ability levels, ExploraVision encourages kids to create and explore a vision of future technology by combining their imaginations with the tools of science. All inventions and innovations result from creative thinking and problem solving.
Nieghl Johnson, Jaylen Smith, Elijah Bryant and Celeste Bradley worked together to develop a device called “The Blind Helper” to help the visually impaired.
Johnson explained the concept of the design as wraparound glasses to help enhance shadows for the blind to make the shadows more noticeable. The idea was influenced by the personal experiences of family members for Johnson and Smith. Johnson’s grandfather was blinded during the Vietnam War, and Smith’s grandmother has limited vision.
From the idea, they created a graphic image on a computer to simulate what the glasses would look like. The glasses feature rubber grips for comfort and sensors that make a beeping sound to judge distances. If the person wearing the glasses gets too close to something, the signal sounds.
Part of the submission requirements included a written description of the device, a bibliography, an abstract, an explanation of the design process, evidence of use of present technology and more.
“For the most part, we worked pretty well together,” said Johnson. “We were pleased with our work. We weren’t disappointed that we didn’t make it to the next round because we knew we did well.”
“Overall, we did pretty good,” Smith said in agreement.
Wade Steinhoff, assistant principal at Hazelwood Central Middle, served as the team’s coach for the project.
“The most enjoyable part of being their coach was sitting back and observing how self-sufficient the students were. They truly worked as a team, with each student assuming a leadership role at one point or another. They recognized that while they are all extremely gifted students, they have individual strengths and once they identified those, they tailored their tasks to one another’s strengths,” said Steinhoff.
“I think this project shows how many opportunities there are for our students to demonstrate their abilities. This was a project that our students discovered on their own, developed a plan and followed through. Now they can enjoy the reward of their efforts,” he said.
Certificates from Toshiba ExploraVision were presented to the students by Steinhoff at school.