Quarry Lane School InvenTeam to Host Free Virtual Community Event

Comprised of nine high school students, the Quarry Lane School InvenTeam was awarded the grant to invent a solution that solves real-world problems. Since the announcement of their award in the fall, the team has been hard at work on a system to connect a basketball referee's whistle with play-worn feedback system.

"As the mid-grant milestone approaches, our team cannot wait to celebrate by sharing our progress with the community!" says freshman, Corina Chen. "Despite facing the challenges of virtual collaboration, we’re proud to present a fully functioning prototype: when pressed, an electronic whistle emits a tone and wirelessly triggers a player-worn armband to vibrate. The months ahead bring more positive prospects, with the upcoming mid-grant presentation and hopes of returning to in-person collaboration."

InvenTeams are groups of high school students, educators and mentors that receive up to $10K in grant funding to invent technological solutions to real-world problems of their own choosing. The InvenTeams present their invention to their hometown communities in February and March, and showcase their final invention prototypes at the Lemelson-MIT Program’s annual culminating event, EurekaFest! EurekaFest! celebrates the inventive spirit and takes place virtually June 15 – 17, 2021.

The Quarry Lane School team will be hosting a free virtual community event on March 1 at 4:30 PM PST to showcase their progress and solicit feedback. Those interested can register at https://mit.zoom.us/meeting/re...

“Since 2006, the InvenTeam initiative has been changing the way educators teach and providing young people – especially young women and students from underrepresented backgrounds - with creative problem-solving skills to flourish in college and career for over 15 years,” explained Stephanie Couch, Executive Director of Lemelson-LMIT.

“InvenTeam students rely on inquiry and hands-on problem solving as they integrate lessons from science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to develop invention prototypes,” said Couch. “Interactive, self-directed learning are essential for experiencing invention.”

The InvenTeam initiative teaches students to work in teams, while collaborating with intended users of their inventions. They partner with organizations in their communities to enrich their experiences. “Most of all, students learn to move forward through challenges and celebrate ‘Eureka!’ moments,” Couch added.

After the InvenTeam experience, inventive cultures often continue to prosper at schools through further development of InvenTeam prototypes or the pursuit of new invention projects. To date, twelve InvenTeams have patents for their InvenTeam projects, although, patents are not a requirement.

Learn more about the Quarry Lane School InvenTeam at https://www.notion.so/Quarry-L... and https://lemelson.mit.edu/teams... .