Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation

Bayer/NSF Award for the Innovation Generation 1996-1997

Bayer/NSF Award for the Innovation Generation and $25,000 Christopher Columbus Foundation Community Grant

Finalist Teams

At an awards ceremony held at Walt Disney World, three of the ten finalist teams place first, second and third and receive $36,000 in savings bonds for their winning entries in the Bayer/NSF Award for Community Innovation program. The competition is geared toward middle school-age children, and gives kids experience in solving real-life problems using the scientific process of exploring, analyzing and drawing conclusions.

The ten teams are judged a second time for the practicality of implementing their idea. The winning team receives the $25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant to take back to their community to make their innovation a reality.

First Place - School Courtyard - Upper Freehold Regional Elementary School, Allentown, NJ

Problem: Lack of funding left an unfinished school courtyard.
Solution: Development of the courtyard into a functional classroom setting.

Second Place - Trash Challenge - Roosevelt Elementary School, Elkhardt, IN

Problem: Increasing amount of waste generated by businesses.
Solution: Recycling program designed specifically for offices.

Third Place - The Historical Energy Mill - Summit Middle School, Boulder, CO

Problem: Dependency on fossil fuel.
Solution: Creation of a micro windmill to harness the winds' power.

$25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant - Grassburning - Sacajawea Middle School, Spokane, WA

Problem: Poor air quality due to harmful methods of grassburning used to improve crops.
Solution: Instead of burning the grasses, sell it to a paper company.