Pleasant Valley School’s Team Unsinkable Bracelet members – Gianna Manzo (left to right), Sophie Lynch, Issy Drissel and Adelaide Postlewaite – are shown with their teacher Natalie Markey after winning the competition in Atlantic City.
A group of fourth graders at Pleasant Valley School finished first in the New Jersey School Boards Association’s Steam Tank challenge elementary division on Oct. 21 in Atlantic City.
Members of Team Unsinkable Bracelet – Issy Drissel, Sophie Lynch, Gianna Manzo and Adelaide Postlewaite – competed against 140 other elementary-school groups across the state in a contest for which they had to find the solution to a problem of their choosing.
The Mullica Hill students focused on reducing instances of children drowning in pools or other water by demonstrating a bracelet they conceived – thus the team’s name – how it works and how it compares with other products.
“Made from recycled stainless steel, plastic and eco-friendly rubber,” said innovation and design teacher Natalie Markey of the device. “The bracelet has a variety of sensors to track water depth (and) movement and has a GPS sensor to set the perimeter for any body of water, increasing parent visibility and location tracking for their child.”
The contest began at the end of March, when the Pleasant Valley team made a virtual, preliminary presentation to judges. All students in Markey’s class participated in that stage, but it was Team Unsinkable Bracelet that made it to the finals.
Contest judges made their decision base on how well the students did in specific categories that included innovative use of technology, entrepreneurship, creativity, improvement to the human-built environment, societal impact, sustainability, subject matter and the benefits to public health and safety.
The top three schools in the contest each won a cash prize; the Pleasant Valley team earned $2,500.
