Twenty-one third thru sixth-grade students comprising 10 teams from Northside, DeKalb Middle and West schools participated in the Invention Convention at MTSU on February 27, under the direction of Enrichment Teacher, Nikyra Calcagno. DeKalb students were among approximately 800 students from Middle Tennessee participating in the competition, which asks students to either invent something to “Make Life Better” or develop a game. 

DeKalb had two teams place:  Andrew Coffman and Christopher Boner took second place in the fifth-grade Games category with their Phrase Madness! game; and Cali Agee and McKenna Miller took third place in the sixth-grade “Make Life Better” category with their No Slip Grip invention. Both teams received an invitation to participate in the National Invention Convention in June. In addition, Ethan Spears, sixth-grade, received the Individual Champion award for his Wizardous Math game.

Other students who participated include: Brody Cripps (3) and Elijah Wiegele (4): Hug-A-Bot 1.0, Anderson Fortner (4) and Blaine Scarbro (4): Ball Drop, Maggie Hendrixson (4), Elliot Barnes (4)and Cora Gilley (3): Marble Mayhem, Payton Marshall (5) and Olivia Minton (5): Climate Chaos, Zoe Bennett (5) and Carly Thomas (5): Measuring Glove, Jaxon Kleparek (6) and Chase Vaughn (6): The Game of Presidents, David Wheeler (6), Turner Bryan (6) and Aidan Turner (6): Soft Band.

Congratulations to each of these students! Their hard work and creativity are to be applauded.