A project that began in a classroom in Elizabethtown brought national attention for two Bear Creek School students. Liesel Keller and Fianna Clark, both rising fourth-graders, earned a spot at the National Invention Convention, where they competed with their project, Recyclified. While the girls did not win anything at the event, held in June at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Mich., they rose to the challenge of presenting in front of judges and showcasing their hard work, said gifted teacher Eric Balak, who oversaw their project.

Prior to the national event, the girls competed in the Pennsylvania Invention Convention, held in Hershey in February. There, they took first place for the invention, which gamifies the act of recycling. "The goal of their invention is to promote better recycling practices/habits through gamification, making recycling into a real-world game," Balak explained. "It consisted of a recycling bin equipped with a portable circuit board, alligator clips, conductors and connecting a USB cable - using a Makey Makey invention kit - to their Chromebook." The girls designed a system so that every time a student pressed a button for recycling the appropriate item, the student's corresponding grade level earned a point, and the grade level with the most points at the end of the competition period received a reward.

Winning first place at the state competition earned the girls a spot at the national event, where 438 finalists competed out of 178,500 total participants at state competitions across the country. "During orientation, they stated that the finalists represented the top 0.25% of the inventors who participated this year," Balak said.

Liesel's and Fianna's family members joined them for the trip to Michigan, where the girls presented to three judges and three other inventors, pitching their invention and answering follow-up questions.

"The girls were well prepared for this national event, having made improvements to their tri-fold display board and their opening script for their skit," Balak said. "For being the first time participating in this event, I thought that the girls performed well, meeting most of the expectations listed on rubrics used by the judges. ... They were able to answer all of the questions asked by the judges, which shows they did their research and knew the ins and outs of their invention, including how to troubleshoot any problems."

The girls also had an opportunity to pitch their invention to a casting call member of ABC's "Shark Tank." Along with presenting their project, the girls explored the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, sitting on the actual bus Rosa Parks rode on and getting to ride in a 1925 Ford Model T. "A big part of the event was connecting with other inventors and exploring the 400-plus youth inventions throughout the venue space," Balak said. Other inventions at the national competition included projects focused on agriculture, food, transportation, health, education, aerospace and fashion.

Participating in the national convention inspired the girls to keep going with science projects, Balak shared, noting his gratitude that the girls and their families helped to raise funds so he could attend with them.

"It was beneficial for me moving forward to gather ideas for next year's event, which the girls already expressed interest in pursuing," he said. "Whether we aim to make improvements and submit Recyclified 2.0 or invent something brand new is yet to be determined!"