St Rose of Lima School fourth grade students had projects on display in the school’s Gathering Hall on Thursday, February 26.

The projects are part of the school’s round of the Connecticut Invention Convention, and four student finalists, selected by judges at St Rose, will go on to the state level of the Invention Convention.

Projects completed by students ranged in purpose, but all of the students, according to teacher Aly Giammattei, were tasked with solving something that “bugs them.” Ms Giammattei said the lesson on inventions started with the students learning about how inventions solve problems.

“I’m very happy with how they came out,” said Ms Giammattei.

A few students offered explanations of their inventions during their lunch time on Thursday.

Isabella Corona said she wanted to create her “Mimo” because she has a hard time waking up to her alarm clock. Her “Mimo” uses a soft mist to wake up a sleeper, and it can be connected to an iPhone, iPad, or iPod to play a song of the sleeper’s choosing through use of an app, according to Isabella.

Isabella said she and her father, Teo Corona, have been testing her invention on her instead of using her typical morning alarm clock, and it has been working.

Nicholas Prieto said his “Dual-EEZ-Bottle” allows liquid, like ketchup, to come out of either end of the bottle with ease.

“No more banging to get Ketchup,” Nick explained.

To create his invention, Nick said he took a bottle and connected another bottle top to its base after cutting a whole in the original bottle. Nick said he tested a smaller version of his invention, and liquid came out perfectly.

Ryann Heim-Sherwood pushed her invention, “The Bounce Back Box,” to demonstrate how her new design for a mailbox would bounce back instead of breaking when hit by a car or plow truck.

Ryann explained she used Bungee Cords and a range of other materials to link two-halves of her mailbox’s pole together then attach it to its stand in order to create the “Bounce Back” effect.

Ryann and Nick went on to be named as finalists in the school’s round of the Invention Convention along with Patrick Mckenzie for his “Hold-a-List” creation and Seamus Reidy for his “The Easy Rake” entry.

The inventions created by the four finalists will be entered in the state’s round of the competition.