2 Ferrara School Students Star At Connecticut Invention Convention

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

EAST HAVEN, CT – Two students from Ferrara School in East Haven competed against 10,000 other students in the state and won honors for in what is known as the Connecticut Invention Convention.

Isabelle Desrosiers created “Play Fresh” which is a portable sports equipment holder that will dry and deodorize whatever equipment you attach onto it (hockey, baseball, football, etc.).

Isabelle will be moving on to the next level of competition – in Washington, D.C.

"I am excited to present my invention in Washington D.C. and share it with the world. I have enjoyed the whole process and can't wait for Nationals,” said Isabelle.

Ava Avena created “The Equestrian Belt” which is everything you need on a belt to manicure the entire horse, not just the mane and tail.

“It was an experience of a lifetime,” said Ava. “I was surprised how far I got with something that was important to me. I'm proud that I made it all the way to UConn.”

Both students’ teacher, Nicole Anderson, couldn’t be prouder.

She said the two competed against students in K-8 from over 200 Connecticut schools as part of a program called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics).

Anderson said: “It is a rigorous program in which the students have lessons on all aspects of the invention process over the course of 3-5 months. The students then work at home on their ideas and bring them to light with their inventions. They must first compete at the school level, where the winners go on to the district level.

“The district level winners go on to regionals, which were held at Quinnipiac University in March. Then on Saturday, April 29th, nearly 1,000 students presented their inventions at UConn Storrs Gampel Pavilion to hundreds of judges.” said Anderson.

Isabelle will now move on to the 2017 National Invention Convention/Entrepreneurship Expo NICEE) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office down in Washington, D.C. from June 1-3.