Forty-eight local students representing 21 different projects competed against each other for prizes and bragging rights on Saturday, March 7th in the first Oakland Schools Game and Invention Challenge. The event is designed to inspire local students to use creativity, critical thinking and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills to develop games, inventions or solutions to real-world problems.
The projects were judged in a variety of categories:
Best Invention – Awards were given to the highest scoring inventions at the middle and high school levels. The winning inventions received a $1,000 prize.
Middle school:
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- Winning Project Name: Vibrasoles
- Student Names: Alex Beaubbien, Liam Dempsey and Prabhath Inturi
- School: Larson Middle School (Troy
High school:
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- Winning Project Name: Table Cleaning Robot
- Student Names: John Favret, Rupesh Kann Kaviyasree Narayanan, Kira Lu, Pravin Kumar Murugesan and Ian Valdovinos
- School: Troy High School
Most Creative Concept – This award went to the highest scoring project from an elementary school in any category – game, game app or invention. The winning project received an ice cream party for their entire school.
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- Winning project name: Time Travel
- Student names: Julia Bailey, Jatifah Benjamin, Noor Khattab, Vincent Samborski and Molie Shelters
- School: Roosevelt Elementary (West Bloomfield)
Oakland Schools Technical Campus (OSTC) Challenge – This award went to the OSTC campus with the highest scoring project and received a $1,000 prize and a trophy to display.
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- Winning project name: VIDA Board Game
- Student name: Summer Stearley
- School: Oakland Schools Technical Campus Northeast (Pontiac)
Most Outstanding Presentation – Awards go to projects at the middle and high school level with the highest score in the areas of pitch, presentation board, process and prototype. The winning projects received a $1,000 prize.
Middle school:
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- Winning project name: Vibrasoles
- Student names: Alex Beaubien, Liam Dempsey and Prabhath Inturi
- School: Larson Middle School (Troy)
High school:
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- Winning project name: VIDA Board Game
- Student name: Summer Stearley
- School: Oakland Schools Technical Campus Northeast
Most Marketable Game Concept – This award went to the highest scoring physical games or game apps at the middle and high school levels. The winning projects received entry and travel costs to compete at the Chicago Young Inventor’s Challenge in November 2020.
Middle school:
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- Winning project name: Trivia Break-In
- Student name: Lyla Costello, Jordyan Law, Bianca Palazzolo and Natalie Rebtoy
- School: Scotch Elementary School (West Bloomfield)
High school:
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- Winning project name: LOHS Bully Board Game
- Student names: Liz Hanna, Thomson Isbister, Dylan Ries and Nicolas Vilotti
- School: Lake Orion High School
Congratulations to all of our participants – it was a great day!