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About 70 elementary and middle school students learned last week how working
together can solve problems from how to design a roller coaster to how to toss a
water balloon 30 feet without breaking it. The students were at Camp Invention,
a weeklong national program being held at Alamance and Hunter Elementary
schools.

At Alamance, the students took part in several activities designed to get the
students thinking about how things work and can be improved.

In addition to creating padded cradles for their water balloons, campers
brought appliances from home that they could take apart and create new things.

The Alamance camp director, Dacia Quate , said the students, including her
two sons, have been having a blast making designs and games that are all their
own.

"It's kind of cool that you know you're inventing something," 11-year-old
Austin Quate said.

His teammate for the balloon challenge, Adam Skrzecz , added, "(Something)
that you know could actually be used in the future."

Camp Invention is a program of the National Inventors Hall of Fame
Foundation. Dacia Quate said she's been very happy with the results.

"We're already thinking about what we're going to do for it next year."

Contact Kavita Pillai at 373-7157 or kavita.pillai@news-record.com