2015 Northeast Region Final Press Release

For Immediate Release
May 12, 2015
Contact: Michele Mooney, 614-620-1507
$11,000 in Scholarships awarded at Invention Convention
Northeast Ohio Regional Finals
Cleveland, Ohio—Aspiring inventors in grades K-8 brought their solutions to everyday problems to the 2015
Invention Convention Northeast Regional Finals presented by Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million
Minds, on Saturday, May 2 at Cleveland State University. Scholarships totaling $11,000 were awarded to young
inventors for their creations.
The grand prize award, the Edison Award scholarship for $2,500, was presented to Ellamarie Green, a 4th grader from
Avon Lake for her invention, “Scooter Water Shooter”. Her invention provides an easier way to water plants and
monitor how much each different plant receives. Green’s invention also earned her first place in the Ohio Soybean
Council Foundation’s Beyond the Bean for Excellence in Agricultural and Environmental Innovation.
First Place Winners of a $500 college scholarship were:
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Kindergarten, Frank Jacono, Westlake, for “Lego Sorter”, an invention that sorts Lego pieces;
Grade 1, Jacob Lenz, Westlake, for “Natural Fire Roll-Up”, which uses yard waste as a fire starter;
Grade 2, Gabriella Kezdi, North Olmstead, for her invention, “Sticksters Markers”, which keeps markers from
rolling off of a desk or table;
Grade 3, Maya Austerman, Avon Lake, an alarm to wake parents when movement and temperature changes are
sensed during a seizure in bed;
Grade 4, Ellamarie Green, Avon Lake, for “Scooter Water Shooter”;
Grade 5, Eva Strazek, Lakewood Schools, for “No Fight, No Bite Dog Food Bag”, a nylon bag designed to
securely store dog food;
Grade 6, Ana Klime, Our Lady of the Lake for “Laundry Lift”, an invention that uses a rope and pulley system to
transport laundry loads from the second to the first floor;
Grade 7, Alexander Soltesz, Menlo Park Academy, for “Lexi’s Water Slousher”, an invention that traps runoff
water and recycles it back to the plants; and
Grade 8, Conner Mullins and Nathan Mullins, Akron City Inventors Hall of Fame, for “Forget Me Not” a
medication reminder and dispenser.
Jana Evans, a third grader from Lakewood Schools, received the Kids Choice Award for “Book Floater”, which allows
for reading a book in the swimming pool or bathtub without getting the pages wet. Second place awards were given in
each grade as well as ten Superior Awards and three Ohio Soybean Council Foundation's specialty awards, "Beyond the
Bean for Excellence in Agricultural and Environmental Innovation” worth $250, $500 and $1,000.
The Teacher of Excellence award was given to Brandi Mattingly from Westlake School District’s Dover Elementary
school.
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Michael Vawter was awarded the Alumni Ambassador award. An Edison Grand Prize winner from 2004 for his
invention “Roboswitch”, a computerized, home energy, management system, Vawter won international robot
competitions and appeared in Popular Science. He founded Robot Academy a program that encourages the field of
robotics to young people. He is currently working toward a Master’s Degree in Entrepreneurship from Seton Hill in
Pennsylvania.
A complete list of winners from the Northeast Ohio Regional Finals can be found at www.inventionconvention.org. The
Central Ohio Regional Finals were held on Saturday, May 9.
About Invention Convention
The mission of the Invention Convention is to inspire curiosity, confidence, invention and creative problem solving in
our youth. Our goals are to enhance student performance in Ohio’s New Learning Standards including math, science
and language arts through administration of the Invention Convention program and to increase the interest of Ohio’s
students in science, technology, art, engineering and math (STEAM) careers. The Invention Convention merged with the
Ohio Academy of Science (OAS) in 2014 to offer programs that enhance STEAM related skills for the full spectrum of
K-12 students. Many students who graduate from the Invention Convention often go on to participate in OAS's State
Science Day & Believe in Ohio.
About Connect a Million Minds
In 2009 Time Warner Cable (TWC) launched a new philanthropic initiative, Connect a Million Minds (CAMM), that
challenged parents, mentors and others to connect over one million students to after-school STEM activities to address
this “inspiration gap”. To date, TWC has provided cash and in-kind investments far in excess of its original $100 million
commitment to inspire student interest in STEM. Program highlights include: original PSAs that challenge public
perceptions of STEM; a unique website, ww.connectamillionminds.com, where parents and community members can
pledge to connect young people with the wonders of science; “The Connectory”, a one-of-a-kind online resource that
makes it simple and easy for parents and students to find informal science and technology learning opportunities in their
communities; grants to support non-profit organizations that bring stimulating, high-quality and affordable after- school
STEM learning to students; TWC employees, over 47,000 strong, who volunteer their time at community events like
science fairs and robotics competitions, and share their passion for engineering and technology with students at CAMM
career days. In May 2014, together with its partners, TWC exceeded its goal of connecting one million students to
STEM opportunities and today, continues connecting students to high quality STEM learning opportunities.
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