Amherst News-Times, 1998-06-10

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L
mherst News-limes
Amhorst.  Ohio
I
Lift off
While standing in the courtyard near the Palace Theatre in downtown Lorain, newly gra
duated Marion L. Steele High School alumni toss
their caps in a group celebration. Parents and
friends helped seniors bid farewell to their public
school education during the ceremony on Sun
day, which also marked the retirement of school
superintendent Howard Dulmage.
Local kids top inventors in national test
by QLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Austin Meggitt and Amber
Lewandowski are Amherst's
versions of Thomas Edison or
Eli Whitney.
The Harris Elementary
School students are inventors
whose creations have been
chosen the best in a national
' competition sponsored by The
Discovery Channel and Media
One.
Austin, nine, was chosen
national grand prize winner in
the Ultima's Inventions contest sponsored by The Discovery Channel and Media One.
He created the "Glove and
Battie Caddy," a device that
lets kids carry their baseball
glove and bat on bicycle
handle bars.
Amber, 10. was selected
one of three national grand
prize finalists for her invention, the "Wheelchair Step
Assist" She created folding
steps that can be added to
the front of a wheelchair to
help people get in and out of
it.
Both fourth graders were
presented with awards by Discovery Channel and Media
One officials last Thursday
during the school's annual
awards ceremony.
HI knew something big was
£but I thought somebody
would win," Austin Hid
following the announcemenL
'  Hie inventors' proud parents, Steve and Anne Meg-
and Andrew and Kelly
had been in-
but kept the honors a
until the ceremony.
Inventors Austin Meggitt, the national grand prize winner, and
Amber Lewandowski, a national finalist, show off their inventions,
the Glove and Battle Caddy and the Wheelchair Assist, to presenters from the Discovery Channel and Media One.
ily. While there, the Meggitts
will (our the nation's capital,
its monuments and museums
and visit members of Congress. They also plan to make
a stop at ihe U.S. Patent Office to start the patent process
in motion.
Amber won $100 and also
will pursue a patent, but more
likely through a patent attorney, according to her mother.
There was one other prize.
Both young inventors were
featured on WJW's (Channel
8) early morning news and
talk show June 12 and will
be seen nationally oa the Dis
covery Channel's "Assignment
America" in the near future.
Austin and Amber are enrolled in the school district's
Horizon Class, a program for
14 gifted and talented children taught by Rosemary Hesmond. It was she who heard
about the Ultimate Inventions
contest and incorporated it
into her class late last year.
The surprising inventions
were among several entered
into an Independent Study
Fair held at the Lorain
County Joint Vocational
School.
The criteria called for stu-
10
would help solve a problem.
Austin got his idea while riding to a little league baseball
game several months ago. It
was when he discovered it
was hard to manage his ball
glove and bat while bicycling.
He dropped them and a car
whizzed by while he was attempting to retrieve them.
"It was on the other side
of the road, Im it really
scared me," he explained. "It
made me think ttat* my
away. He found similar devices didn't exist. As part of
his research, Austin visited
several area bicycle shops and
searched through a list of about 100,000 bike accessories
to make sure his idea was
original.
He received encouragement
from the proprietors of Dale's
Bike Shop, who said it could
prove quite useful.
Soon afterward, he began
stretching a rough design that
was improved upon by his
rather before the two ventured
Into the family basement to
the tllove and Battle
Caddy." b cost S8J2 to
build.
The rest is history and possibility a lucrative financial
resource for a college education if the device receives a
patent, according to his father.
Amber also researched her
idea. As part of the Horizon
Class project, children were
told to ask people about
problems they encounter in
their work or daily lives that
could be resolved by an
invention.
Among those she interviewed was a physical therapist working at the Childrens'
Development Center in AmhersL Through her, the young
inventor learned therapists and
aides can strain themselves
trying to help disabled children or people in and out of
wheelchairs.
The folding stairs enable "a
child to push up with the
wheelchair almost by themselves or maybe they won't
need anybody," Amber
explained.
She and her father went
through a similar design and
building process as did Austin
and his father.
And what did the kids
leant?
"Use your imagination and
don't think that things are
impossible," Austin said.
Joan Lowry, Media One's
corporate affairs and programming manager, said the finalists and national winner were
chosen by the Discovery
Channel bated on a review of
all local inventions by the
cable TV company.
About 400 entries were received nationwide by the Discovery Networks. Baaed on
their number, both Lowry and
Discovery Ouaaei
uvea said it was unusual for
the nttrfrtt1 fond prise winner and a "
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