Cardinal Carter’s innovative Rain Regents bound for California event

A group of students from Leamington’s Cardinal Carter Middle School who call themselves the Rain Regents will be travelling to California in June to participate in the First Lego League Global Innovation Awards semifinals. The Rain Regents have created a bird spa that is self-washing and self-replenishing and is fed by rain barrels. By replenishing and washing itself with rainwater the bird spa eliminates the growth of bacteria, algae and mosquitoes. The team will travel to San Jose, Calif., from June 19 to 21 to present their project, selected from entries from more than 20 countries. The award teams are required to consider possible barriers to implementation, document the evaluation of their invention, and validate their design with professionals from STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math). The competitors will participate in a two-day, handson innovation event at the San Jose University Students Union and will see the awarding of a top prize of US$20,000 prize while two runners-up will take home prizes of $5,000 each.

The First Lego League is an international program for kids aged nine to 16 formed in 1998 to get kids excited about science and technology and teach them valuable career and life skills. The team of seven students and three coaches from Cardinal Carter learned of their good fortune last week. The Global Innovation Award is sponsored by Booze Allen Hamilton, John Deere, Lego Education, PWC, Rockwell Collins Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and XPRIZE and in cooperation with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.