EVERETT — Have you ever grown frustrated trying to pump the last bit of shampoo or lotion out of a bottle?
Callia Park feels your pain.
The Forest View Elementary School fifth-grader has invented a way to get every drop of liquid from a pump dispenser.
Her creation, called a “tilt,” is a rounded, molded-plastic object inserted into the bottom of a bottle. It tilts the dispenser so that liquid flows to one spot, where it can easily be pumped out.
“The pumping shampoo bottle is really convenient at first,” Park said, “but as I get to the end, the shampoo doesn’t come out even though there is a lot of shampoo left. This is a waste of shampoo and money.”
A prototype, using a plastic water bottle and Play-Doh, earned her the Best in Class award in the consumer services category at last month’s state Invention Convention. Park will participate in the National Invention Convention in Dearborn, Michigan at the end of May.
But she has even bigger plans for her creation. Park has applied for a patent, and hopes to market the tilted dispensers. They can be used not only for shampoo, but also for liquid soap, lotion and hand sanitizer.
Park came up with the tilt after she discovered her initial idea, a shield to protect fingers when cutting food, had already been taken.
“I was in a hurry. I was trying to think of any way I could to get that shampoo to come out,” Park said. “Then I thought, ‘Oo la la, a tilt!’”
Park said she hates dealing with shampoo remnants. “It’s so annoying!”
Park was one of three Highly Capable Forest View students to compete at the state Invention Convention. It is part of a national program sponsored by the STEMIE Coalition (STEM + Invention + Entrepreneurship).
The STEMIE Coalition’s mission is “to have every child in every school become an inventor/entrepreneur once, better twice, and instill problem-solving, critical-thinking, and creativity skills for life,” according to its website.
Forest View is currently the only school in the Everett district to participate in STEMIE. It held a school-wide Invention Convention this week.
“The Highly Capable teachers here took this on,” said Pam VanHorne, Park’s classroom teacher. “We tried to convince the whole district, but we got it only at this school.”
For this year’s state convention, the theme was “what bugs you?” Students were challenged to find something that annoys them, then fashion a solution. First, though, they had to ensure their invention was unique.
She created a poster board display for the state convention, combined with her working water-bottle prototype.
During the awards ceremony at Spokane’s North Central High School, Park’s parents wanted to leave early for the long drive home. But Callia insisted on waiting to the end, for the Best in Class awards.
“I knew I was going to win,” she said. How? “Confidence.”
VanHorne, a one-time McDonnell-Douglas engineer, said she hopes Park’s success will encourage more district schools to embrace STEMIE.
“All students benefit from opportunities to use their imagination and solve problems that they care about,” she said. “When it’s something they care about, they’re going to be invested.”
