Area students selected to exhibit inventions at State Convention

Three Decorah girls will be taking their inventions to the Invent Iowa State Convention on Saturday, April 24 at Hawkeye Carver Arena on the University of Iowa campus.

St. Benedict third graders Leah Weis and Allison Groux will be showcasing "The Night Doodler," a device for helping kids who wait until the last minute to do their homework. With this lighted portable work surface, night owls won't bother sleeping siblings who DID do their homework earlier!

Micala Folkedahl, a fourth grader from Carrie Lee Elementary, invented a Diabetic License Plate. Micala has a diabetic cousin and wanted to do something to help her and others like her. She heard the story of someone who was arrested for erratic driving; police assumed the person was drunk, when in fact he was having a diabetic reaction. With this invention, authorities would be alerted to the driver's health condition and could provide assistance as needed.

These two inventions were among the 25 selected from a pool of 282 inventions displayed by 384 students from forty schools in the Keystone Area Education Agency. They will be two of the 300 outstanding inventions exhibited at the state level.

Participation in Invent Iowa at St. Benedict's is under the leadership of Mary Ann Krammen. Peggy Beatty and Rhonda Thompson administer the program in the Decorah Community School District.

Photo #1: Micala Folkedahl
Photo #2: Allison Groux (L) and Leah Weis (R)