In the wake of one of the most distressing education reviews this Island has ever seen, there are some decidedly positive rumblings emanating from the East End of the Island.

In the last few weeks, the students and staff of Clearwater Middle School have done everything in their power to prove their heady mantra “The best middle school in Bermuda, and the world”.

The school’s first ever Inventors and Inventions Expo was an unbridled success, yielding scores of outstanding research projects and original inventions alike. The event was a collaborative effort between the school’s Science and Social Studies departments, and took the form of a school-wide competition to see who could come up with the best original invention (Science), and put together the most impressive research project on an important historical inventor or invention (Social Studies). The students worked assiduously for the better part of two months on their projects, teaming up and producing some decidedly spectacular results. The research projects were straightforward, and the M2 students dominated here, with the top two spots going to Jahlae Outerbridge and Brooke Caisey for a study of hot air balloons, and Courtney Simons for researching the invention of the telephone.The real suspense and intrigue would start with the judging of the inventions though. The M2s represented again, taking first overall and third overall, but there was fierce resistance from the M3s, making this group very interesting indeed.

The inventions were judged by such criteria as Most Marketable, Most Unique, Most Useful, and Outstanding Fun and Leisure Invention, and prizes were given for the top three overall as well.

Some of the students requested that their ideas be kept secret because they have plans to develop and market their intellectual properties, and believe you me, these kids came up with some exceedingly cool stuff! The top invention overall, for instance, was an extremely useful Braille cellular phone lovingly dubbed the “Braizor” by its inventors, Jahvonnah Samuels and Rokeyah Brown (both M2 students).

Ereico Outerbridge was second overall with a product called Tiny Tots (which he plans to develop further), and Dakari White and Shaquille Smith (Spat-U-Guard) finished in a tie for third with Shannon Denham (My Secrets).

Other category winners included ReNeice Esdaille and Stevona Daniels (Most Unique: A locker sachet for keeping your locker smelling fresh and clean), Thomas Heyliger (Most Useful: A winter cooling cup), Phillip Burgess and Cavun Ottley (Most Marketable: A handy portable water pouch), and Fabio Coelho and Daquan Pitcher (Outstanding Fun and Leisure Invention: A soccer based board game called “FIFA Made Small”).

The entire event was a resounding success, culminating in an open house that had parents and visiting educators alike gasping in awe at the ingenuity and resourcefulness of these budding young inventors.

Denise Berry and Denika Jones spearheaded this initiative, and hope to make it an annual affair. Miss Berry teaches M2 Science at Clearwater, and admitted being pleasantly surprised at the variety and resourcefulness of the students’ creations.

She said that she used to work in a school for talented and gifted students in the US, and the products concocted by the Clearwater students compared very favourably to those created by her former students.

She found herself saying “Wow!” quite a bit during the judging process and considers this project a thorough triumph.

More recently, the school ventured out into the St. David’s community to clean the streets in their second “Trash-A-Thon” of the current school year. The students and staff scoured the area east of the Number 1 Gate, filling about 70 trash bags, and leaving the landscape gleaming in their wake.

With the future of education in Bermuda being questioned more and more everyday, it’s good to know that there are still schools in our community doing the kinds of things that generate ingenuity, resourcefulness and strong, positive values. Clearwater Middle School is just such an institution, celebrate accordingly.

Young inventors show their mettle