Pomperaug High Students Participate in Expo Fest Redo

From Region 15 Schools: Students from the Pomperaug High School (PHS) Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences competed in an “Expo Redo” on Monday, June 11th , at the professional training building on the grounds of the Connecticut Basement Systems business campus in Seymour, CT. The event, hosted by Ed Advance/ Skills 21 included teams from Pomperaug and New Fairfield High Schools. It was termed “Expo Redo” as teams from both schools were not able to participate in the original Expo Fest at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, CT on May 18th and 19th due to storm damage from the severe weather in the area on May 15th. Expo Fest is a competition held annually in Connecticut, in which high school students work as individuals or in teams to design, develop, and implement an innovative product or solution to the an innovation challenge.

Throughout the year the students in the Digital Academy at PHS use 21st Century Skills to design and develop an Expo Fest project. Students work to design, develop, and implement an innovative product or solution to a given challenge. Expo Fest then provides students with an opportunity to showcase their innovative, cross-curricular products, services, community actions, digital media and film programs. “Expo Redo” gave the students an opportunity to showcase their hard work and innovation in an alternative setting modeled after Expo Fest. Students presented their work on stage in front of an audience of participants and a panel of judges, and judges provided feedback on projects. Senior capstone students, as well as projects that placed first, second, and third were acknowledged for their work. “While this event certainly did not replace the actual EXPO, it did provide our students the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments, share their hard work and innovation, and join together as a team,” said Mr. Chris Walsh, PHS Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and Math/Science Academic Chairperson at Pomperaug High School.

The following students shared their projecta in Expo Redo:

The 9th grade team of Heather Messina, Rich Szymanski, and Barbara Murphy, developed the project “Shell Shock”. Shell Shock’s mission is to create a cell phone case that is stronger, more protective, lightweight and nature-inspired (using the technology of an actual sea shell) while saving money and resources. https://expo2018shellshock.wix...

The 10th grade team of Mike Murphy, James Connelly, and Stephanie Hunter developed the project Pomperaug Enzyme Generator (P.E.G.). P.E.G. is a company whose goal is to turn cardboard into electricity, using cellulase to break down the cellulose into glucose. From there, we use a combination of more enzymes and other materials to then turn that glucose into usable energy. http://pomperaugenzymegenerato...

The 11th grade team of Brian Marganski and Robert Mazuroski developed Mycomission. They designed an environmentally-friendly method for cleaning small-scale oil spills (such as those that may occur in a household). The use of oyster mushrooms and their mycelium (a white stringy substance that grows on and around the mushroom) allows for the detoxification and break down of hydrocarbons found in motor oil, cooking oil, baby oil, etc. https://mycomission.weebly.com...

The 11th/12th grade team comprised of the Ecommerce Entrepreneurship class, developed TredTrax. Students designed technology that will aid in determining when an automobile’s tires are nearing the end of their tread life. In short, a narrow band of color will be visible in the middle of a tire and will change colors as the tire wears down. When the rubber wears down to a particular color, this will indicate that the tire needs
replacement. http://www.tredtrax.com/ In addition, 10 PHS seniors presented their Senior Capstone Project. The Digital Academy Capstone Project is the peak innovation project for High School seniors embracing 21st century learning, in which students design solutions in response to community challenges.

Projects included:
“Good Vibes” a product that takes wind and turns it into a more useful form of energy; “Ode to Anxiety”, a hands-on exhibit that shows how anxiety works and how to deal with it; “Serve Ace”, a tennis toss training tool; “burger: BACK,” a product that addresses the issue of food waste through portion control; “GameGuru”, a device that will create an individualized list of video games based on user preferences; “Rural Cones”, traffic cones that are used in road construction work zones and have light emitting diodes (LED) controlled and coordinated by timers; “Running United”, an online hub for social interaction amongst competitive runners; “AeroGear”, a product that integrates a super- insulating material called Aerogel into fire gear to make firefighter’s protective gear lighter without sacrificing thermal protection; “Aqua Acoustics,” a product that uses liquid as a more efficient and cheaper alternative noise barrier in outdoor and indoor environments; and “Posture Pro” a device that uses arduino technology to correct posture through the use of LED feedback.

Image Via Region 15