GLENDALE : Schools to Reward Creative Inventors

Students from fourth to 12th grade will show off their knack for ingenuity Saturday as part of the Glendale school system’s first Invention Contest and Convention at Clark Staff Development Center.

“This was a suggestion that came from school sites,” said Kim Bishop, coordinator of the school district’s Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program. “They have had some students that were very creative.”

Sponsored by the GATE program, the event also features a competition involving student drawings based on cartoons by Rube Goldberg, and student costumes of their favorite inventors.

A six-member panel made up of teachers, district specialists, trustees and parents will award first-, second- and third-place prizes at each grade level for inventions and drawings. Prizes include a book about inventions, ribbons and certificates.

“We just wanted to give them some recognition in school in case they may not win a district award,” Assistant Principal Cheryl McCartney said.

Some of the displays range from a dog-washing system complete with plastic container to a sponge glove.

“We have some future scientists (here), that’s for sure,” McCartney said.

Saturday’s event is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Judging is scheduled between 9 and 11 a.m. For more information, contact Bishop at (818) 241-3111, Ext. 301.