A PLEASANT SURPRISE — Five Brooke High School students who competed in a state contest in which teens pitched ideas for new inventions not only won $2,500 to develop their creations. They also won a $25,000 donation for the Bruins Helping Bruins food pantry, which serves the families of fellow students in need. On hand for the presentation Monday, were, from left, front, students William Harvey, Kai Bowers, Gavin Scott, Cooper Byers and Andrew Petrella; and back, Jason Rine of the West Virginia University Extension Service, one of three organizations involved with the contest; Bruins Helping Bruins volunteers Charlene Smith, Linda Abercrombie and Suzie Tennant; and Chad Haught, the students’ teacher. — Warren Scott
WELLSBURG — Five Brooke High School students pitched their ideas for two inventions at a state contest last week and came away not only with $2,500 to develop their ideas but $25,000 for the food pantry at their school.
Each student also received a $100 Amazon gift card.
Two teams comprised of Kai Bowers, William Harvey and Gavin Scott and Cooper Byers and Andrew Petrella were among 10 high school teams that competed in the Robin Hayhurst High School Pitch Competition last week at Stonewall Resort in Roanoke, W.Va.
The contest was part of the Mountaineers State Innovators Summit held by the Hayhurst family, WVU Extension and WVU Morris L. Hayhurst Launch Lab.
Brooke County WVU Extension agent Jason Rine said the event has included pitches from businesses and entrepreneurs in the past, but this was the first year a contest was held for middle and high school students.
Rine noted among the many competing in the business categories of the event was YNST Magazine’s Adam Payne of Wheeling, who placed third in his division and won a $25,000 grant.
He said collectively more than $300,000 was awarded to entrepreneurs, students and community leaders through the event.
Rine said in addition to walking away with a grant to further develop their projects, all of the participating schools received, through the Hayhurst family’s generosity, a donation for a food pantry serving their communities.
The Brooke students didn’t need to look farther than Bruins Helping Bruins, a food pantry and clothes closet operated in their school by four adult volunteers: Linda Abercrombie, Charlene Smith, Suzie Tennant and Jennifer Smith.
The women were stunned and a bit teary when the donation was presented to them Monday in the school’s library.
Smith said she and others are preparing Thanksgiving food baskets for the families of Brooke students in need and, through the year, send boxes of food to many families and backpacks filled with foods for the weekend home with students.
Abercrombie told the five students, “If you have friends you know are hungry, please send them our way.”
The women said they do all they can to keep the donations confidential so no one feels awkward about seeking help.
Smith said the group was blessed with the recent donation of 11 turkeys and three carloads of food by Ashley Fletcher, a parent of Brooke County students, and her family.
Chad Haught, the students’ teacher, noted several clubs are involved in a school-wide food drive that will benefit Bruins Helping Bruins, the Brooke-Hancock Family Resource Network and the Salvation Army.
Members of the community are welcome to bring nonperishable food for the pantry to the high school’s main office up to Dec. 12.
Haught said he’s very proud of the students’ hard work in developing an invention and preparing for the contest.
Each team was required to deliver a five-minute presentation to four judges from the business, education and government sectors, with supporting materials, and respond to about five minutes of questions from the panel.
Scott, Harvey and Bowers said they came up with a safety device that can be used to protect the users of chainsaws during a kickback, which is an incident in which the tip of its guide bar hits an object or the chain gets pinched in a cut.
Scott said he learned through his father, who works in the forestry industry, of the serious injuries that have occurred from kickbacks.
“There have been hundreds of deaths from it,” he said, adding, “We looked at it and said, we can prevent it.”
Petrella and Byers came up with a device that golfers can use to improve their swing.
Not wanting to divulge too much, Petrella said only that it can help golfers to assume the right position while practicing.
“We’re looking at getting our idea patented,” he said.
Scott and his teammates said they hope to patent their device and, hopefully, save the lives of many chainsaw users.
Petrella said to prepare for the question-and-answer period following their presentation, “We went over the kinds of questions they (the judges) might ask us. We had about 30 answers.”
Scott said he and his teammates double-checked their answers to be sure they were correct and practiced beforehand with the Petrella-Byers team standing in for the judges.
Haught said he’s pleased to have both of the school’s teams in the competition emerge as winners.
“I was thrilled. It was one of those things in which they spent so much time,” he said, adding the two teams have been invited to participate in a similar competition.
Eric James, the school’s principal, said he’s also proud of the students and very happy to see Bruins Helping Bruins receive such support.
“I know firsthand the amount of work those ladies put in,” he said, adding it was wonderful to see the look on their faces when they were presented with the donation.
