SANDPOINT — A record 21 students from the Selle Valley Carden School qualified for Invent Idaho, the state level STEM competition, after placing at the North Idaho regional competition in January.

For the last two to three months, all second through eighth grade students at the school put their imagination to the test, creating and refining an idea to solve a problem in their lives. Heather Steele, a third-grade teacher at SVCS, said she loves the program because it allows the students to be creative while applying what they’ve learned to the world around them.  

"I really like the creative thinking involved when they start their brainstorming, and they’re thinking of real-world problems that affect them,” Steele said. “Students will create a prototype to do the intended job and then find their hiccups, reinvent their prototype, there’s a lot of evolution that happens in this project.” 

The ideas sprawl across five categories that can range from working and non-working models to the fantasy “Jules Verne” category. Students are grouped by grade level, with two grades joining in succession to create four divisions.   

Steele said a majority of the student’s inventions fall in the realm of fantasy, things that are a little too complicated or expensive for students to produce. The creations ranged from earbuds that could block out a certain person’s voice, in the case of the student it would be her “annoying” brother, to an all-in-one toothbrush. 

"Her solution was noise cancelling earbuds that has an app on your phone where you can record the frequency of the noise that’s bothering you, and it will only block out that specific pitch of noise,” Steele said. “She could block out essentially her brother but still hear everything else that’s going on.” 

One of the interesting things Steele noticed was how the inventions ranged in scope as the students got older. She said that younger students tend to come up with smaller and more fun ideas, like the exclusive earbuds or a cape for your umbrella, so you’re always dry.  

Older students are more likely to create something larger in scope, Steele said, attempting to fix global issues like sustainability of farming. An invention from an SVCS student aimed to fix a part of that issue is “bio-spud feedbags” or feedbags for animals made of potatoes, a biodegradable and uniquely Idaho material. 

In order to submit their idea, students must submit an inventor's journal, a detailed book showing the process from conception to completion. Steele said the writing element is one of her favorite parts of the program. 

The 21 students will now head to the University of Idaho in Moscow for the statewide competition in May. Students will have two minutes to pitch their idea to the host of judges in hopes of earning a medal. 

Steele said the event lines up with U of I’s engineering design conference, which allows the students to see the next steps of inventions. All students who participate in the statewide competition will also go on a tour of U of I, Steele said. 

"The kids get an opportunity to see engineering students that are attending the University of Idaho who are solving real world problems,” Steele said. “It’s really neat for them to see more advanced versions of what they’re doing.” 

Any student who places at the state competition will be invited to the national competition, Steele said. Although, she said with this program she believes every student is a winner. 

"There’s so much learning that happens at every level so essentially everybody wins,” Steele said. “It’s a great hands-on learning opportunity that gets kids thinking about everything from their annoying brother to pollution and recycling.”