What began as a way to get kids more interested in science turned into an odyssey that took three McDonough youngsters to the White House. The journey began last year when Cara Jackson’s sons talked about building a robot to clean their rooms.
“They weren’t all that interested in science,” she said. “So when they starting on about the robot, I thought I could get them interested if we could apply science to something that was important to them. I wanted it to be something fun and small we could do around the dining room table.”
When she went online to find supplemental projects to boost the boys’ enthusiasm, Jackson found ExploraVision, a science competition that challenges children to come up with ideas that could become a reality as technology evolves. She then recruited other families to join in and wound up with three teams working on science projects.
After brainstorming various possibilities, Jackson’s two sons, Alec, 9, and Evan, 10, and classmate Caleb Robinson, 8, came up with Cool Pads, a way to line football pads and helmets with cooling packs that kick in when a player’s body temperature rises.
“They had several ideas, but football kept coming up because they’re interested in it, and Evan had overheated in a game,” said Jackson. “They knew heat can affect someone.”
Last year, the idea took second place in the ExploraVision nationals competition in Washington, D.C., where the boys were the youngest and only African-American competitors. They made such an impression that they were invited to attend the White House 2013 science fair, which was held on April 22.
“We were so excited because they select the top performers from national science competitions around the country,” said Jackson. “And even there, our kids were still the youngest; most of the others were in high school or college.”
The students set up a display of their Cool Pads concept in the White House and answered questions from various dignitaries — and President Barack Obama himself.
“Talking to the president was great,” said Alec. “He was really friendly.”
Brother Evan agreed. “He thought we had really cool stuff,” he said. “We also got to show our ideas to Victor Cruz of the New York Giants, who said he wanted to try the pads out. But we don’t have the technology to make them yet.”
Caleb Robinson got to explain how the pads work to the president. “He shook everybody’s hands and asked a lot of questions about our project,” he said. “Then he said it was a good idea.”
During an address to the students and parents, the president singled out the Cool Pads creators by name and mentioned their school, Flippen Elementary in McDonough.
“He talked about their project and even told Victor Cruz he needed to check it out,” said Caleb’s mom, Natosha Rice. “It was very cool.”
Though taking the Cool Pads from the drawing board to the football field is still a ways off, coming up with an idea that could become a reality has fired up the students’ imaginations, Jackson said. It has made one of her sons even more interested in designing a robot.
“I really want to be a professional football player,” said Evan. “But before I do that, I really want to make robots just so they can keep my house clean.”
“Milestones” covers significant events and times in the lives of metro Atlantans. Big or small, well-known or not — tell us of a Milestone we should write about. Send information to hm_cauley@yahoo.com; call 404-514-6162; or mail to Milestones, c/o Holly Steel, 223 Perimeter Center Parkway NE, Atlanta, GA 30346.
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