Saturday, March 18, 2000
Kids awarded for timesaver
St. Julie students display creativity
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
HAMILTON — Ever dream of the day you could stop brushing your teeth without worrying about tooth decay or bad breath?
Kindergarten students at St. Julie Billiart School do. So they've proposed a solution: the Never Again Brush Your Teeth Pill.
Their idea and supporting research made the four-member team of 5- and 6-year-olds the regional winners in the ExploraVision Awards, sponsored by Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Association.
St. Julie's project was one of 24 entries selected nationally — one in each of four age groups in six regions — from a field of 4,149 entries. The kindergartners competed with children in grades kindergarten through three from Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana.
Four first-place and four second-place teams in each age group will be selected next month from among the 24 regional winners. St. Julie's was the only regional winner from Ohio.
“Once they knew what they wanted, the rest seemed to fall in place,” said Patti Clear, the kindergarten aide who served as mentor for the winning team of Becca Creed, Abby Shalloe, Steven Randall and Alex Randall.Five other teams from the school also submitted projects.
In an all-school assembly Fri day, the students' project was explained and each child received a plaque from Toshiba representatives.
The center of the pill would be creamy and filled with a germ-fighting toothpaste that tasted good. Added to that is antacid to kill acid on tooth surface, scrubbing foam to clean teeth and freshen breath, along with vitamins to keep children strong and healthy.
By taking the pill instead of brushing the children estimated they would have 1,460 minutes — or 24 hours — more each year to do something besides brushing their teeth, Ms. Clear said.
Steven explained that he doesn't like brushing his teeth.
“It takes too much time. I'd take a Never Brush Your Teeth Again pill,” he said.
Kindergarten teacher Sue Salo said finding a problem — in this case children disliking brushing their teeth — and then coming up with a solution was beneficial. Six teams submitted entries.
“It was the perfect way to blend creativity with their natural curiosity,” Ms. Salo said. “Everyone had a good time.”
The teams began work on their projects in October and finished mid-January. The winning team is now making a prototype of its pill and making Play Doh models. They will be photographed for placement on a five-page Web site they must create for the next level of competition. The winning teams' pages will be posted on Toshiba's Web site.
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