Last week, a working hoverboard was shown off by one of Mt. Laurel Township Schools’ own students.
The inventor, Hillside School fourth grader Emma Bogdan, was one of more than 80 students from the Gifted Academic Program to show off their latest technological marvel at the annual GAP Invention Convention at Hartford School last week.
Bogdan’s version of the hoverboard, named “e-board,” didn’t look quite as streamlined as the one viewers saw in “Back to the Future,” but it certainly worked just as efficiently.
“I made it by attaching a leaf blower to a box,” she said. “We attached a shower curtain with holes to the bottom.”
Powered by the leaf blower, the air blew through the shower curtain holes, allowing the board to hover a few inches off the ground. Bogdan said her board could easily carry a person up to about 70 pounds.
Bogdan’s invention sat near the front of the bustling Hartford School cafeteria, where third and fourth graders from all Mt. Laurel schools were demonstrating their projects.
The convention put inventions into one of five categories. Bogdan’s e-board was in the entertainment, toys and games section. The other categories were health and beauty, clothes and fashion, weather and housewares.
Each inventor’s presentation included a tri-board describing the invention process. Everyone identified a problem with a particular life process and came up with a solution. Each inventor also included their insights into how they came up with their idea and their thought process behind the invention.
The e-board wasn’t the only vehicle at the convention. Anthony Avanesov, a fourth grader from Larchmont School, invented the La-Z-Pack. Using a remote control and rollers duck-taped to the bottom of a backpack, Avanesov created a way to have books carry themselves to class.
Some other inventions had the goal of getting rid of various everyday nuisances. Fourth grader Chase Cristella from Larchmont School invented The Chase Car Protector. The pad stuck to the car with a magnet and was made of protective padding to keep cars from being banged or dented by other vehicles in tight parking lots.
“If they move in too close and then open up their door, this protects it,” Cristella said.
Hillside third grader Ian Rapko was tired of getting cold while playing in the snow. This problem led him to inventing “Heated Snow.”
“I make it up by putting on patches and placing hard warmers inside,” he said.
Rapko said the pants and coat could stay warm for up to eight hours, allowing for a full day of play.
Straying away from entertainment, Parkway third grader Gabriel McGough wanted to come up with a way to help the environment. He created the Harmless Holder, a way to keep the plastic containers on soda cans from becoming hazards at the beach.
“Plastic cans can get stuck on the animals,” McGough said. “I don’t really like that.”
With the variety of inventions featured at last week’s convention, it is not too far-fetched to think the next great inventor could come out of Mt. Laurel schools.
