For the second year in a row, the Solanco High School science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) team has won the Pennsylvania Governor's STEM Challenge. Recently, the team members demonstrated their winning STEM project to Solanco school board directors and district administrators.
In the Governor's STEM Challenge, students were asked to solve a problem using STEM. Solanco students Patrick Hodgson, Tim Fetterman, Gabi Dolan, Jack Hertzler, and Jenna Brown created the Classroom Lockdown Assistance Device (CLAD) to provide additional, enhanced safety for students and teachers in the event of a school intruder.
The CLAD they invented is a PVC cylinder that mounts above a classroom door. In the event of a school intruder emergency, the CLAD would release a curtain at the door to block the intruder's view into the classroom. A teacher or student would not need to approach the door to pull down the curtain. The curtain is made of a synthetic fiber that is designed to deflect or fragment bullets fired into it. The CLAD also locks the door by removing the small magnet that teachers place on the door when needed to prevent the door from locking, and the CLAD provides additional reinforcement by cinching the door shut at the hinge typically found at the tops of doors in classrooms.
School board members and students discussed the cost to build a CLAD - currently $370 - and how possible modifications could be made to make them more affordable. They also discussed the creation of a single switch that would activate all CLADs throughout a school instead of individual switches in all classrooms, as well as other potential improvements.
The team will advance to the state competition to be held in Harrisburg in April. Prior to this competition, the Solanco team is scheduled to participate in a "Shark Tank"-type contest at Bloomsburg University where they will present, explain and promote the benefits of their CLAD to a panel of judges.
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