Young inventors: Kids go back to classroom for weeklong Camp Invention
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Carter Guess from Bethel Park gives a thumbs-up of appreciation for the Marble Arcade he developed.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Camdyn Cekus from Bethel Park works on spin art in The Attic module.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Hannah Watkins of Bethel Park displays her skill of rapidly completing a Rubik’s Cube.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Elle Sirochman of Bethel Park shows off her invention in Robotics Aquatics. It’s a device that would make ocean water safe for drinking.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Abby Ricciuti of Bethel Park works on a project in The Attic module.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Instructor Kent Wallisch displays a finished product of spin art in The Attic.
From robots to marble arcades, youngsters from several elementary schools in the area spent a week of summer vacation back in the classroom innovating and using their problem-solving skills.
The annual Camp Invention was held July 18 to 22 at Neil Armstrong Middle School in the Bethel Park School District. It was the seventh year the district has hosted the camp.
Camp Invention is a summer educational program created by the National Inventors Hall of Fame, a North Canton, Ohio-based nonprofit organization. The weeklong program teaches children in grades K through 6 how to cultivate the mindset of an innovator.
“It’s a hands-on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) camp,” explained Laura Huth, camp director. “The kids rotate throughout through five modules and they’re engaging in various areas of STEAM.”
There were 204 participants this year, up from 169 in 2021.
“It’s a really nice, family-based cap,” Huth said. “One of the things that parents have told us is it’s one of the few camps all of their kids can attend. We have families that have been with us throughout the years.”
Students from school districts including Peters Township, Canon-McMillan, West Jefferson Hills, Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon, South Park and Baldwin-Whitehall, as well as St. Louise de Marillac School, participated.
While the camp is geared for younger students, those entering seventh through ninth grade were used as leaders in training who assisted their young counterparts in the modules. Those in grades 10 through 12 served as leadership interns and also lent a helping hand.
This year’s program included:
- Marble Arcade — Children learned about inclines and wedges and built their own marble arcade.
- Robotics Aquatics — Students learned about jellyfish and underwater sea life.
- The Attic — Students assembled their own robot that acts as a spin art machine.
- Spacecation — Children learned about space and created space gear.
- Camp Invention Games — Students participated in group activities to help build their social-emotional skills, as well as their communication and collaborative skills.
There also was an area in the lobby where there were items that may have appeared to look like trash but could actually be materials used for the kids’ inventions and prototypes.
Kent Wallisch, an art teacher at Bethel Park High School, has participated in the camp for many years and was the instructor for the Attic module.
“This is exactly what I’m all about as an art teacher,” he said. “It’s the creativity, the divergent thinking, the problem solving that is a part of the camp every year. It pushes the idea of what art is. They’re learning creative problem-solving. The inventor side of art is really fun.”
Alyssa Ceraulo, a second-grade teacher at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, is in her first year with the camp and led the Robotics Aquatics module.
“Students got to invent a habitat for a jellyfish,” she said. “Little things got them excited, like figuring out how the fish moves. Now, they’re designing something to go underwater or above water. They can be creative with whatever the device is.”
Elle Sirochman, who is entering second grade at Ben Franklin Elementary school, created an invention that would make ocean water drinkable.
Huth, a special education teacher at Neil Armstrong, has been the camp director for each of its seven years at Bethel Park. She sees endless benefits for those who participate.
“Not only do they have that academic information in the skills that they’re building, but the social-emotional skills, building their confidence, gaining self-worth, learning how to persevere, to not give up,” she explained. “If something does not work one way, what do I need to try to fix it, the same type of process inventors go through. It’s truly a program that checks all of the boxes.”