Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation

Bayer/NSF Award for the Innovation Generation 1997-1998

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 - The Back Belt - Hyde Park Middle School, Las Vegas, NV

Problem: Swing-related injuries.
Solution: Back Belt swing safety harness.

Second Place - Light is Right - Cold Spring Harbor Middle School, Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Problem: Back problems caused by heavy backpacks.
Solution: Awareness campaign to alert students to the risk of backpack misuse.

Third Place and $25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant - Tracking and Saving Kids (TASK) Force - Walden Middle School, Atlanta, GA

Problem: Retrieving homeless and transient students school records.
Solution: A clearinghouse facility to store school and medical records and provide social services.