Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Page S4454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO THE STUDENTS OF GILFORD HIGH SCHOOL'S INTRODUCTION TO
ENGINEERING CLASS
Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I am proud to recognize the
students of Gilford High School's introduction to engineering class as
June 2019 Granite Staters of the Month. These students successfully
applied their engineering knowledge to create personalized, easy-to-use
mobility devices for three young students in their community who
experience disabilities.
The idea for this project came from Troy Gallagher, who just
graduated from Gilford High School and will attend Texas Tech in the
fall. Last summer, Troy participated in an advanced studies program at
St. Paul's School, where he took a 5-week engineering course that
introduced him to the University of Delaware program GoBabyGo!, which
works with communities around the world to modify ride-on cars for
children with disabilities. The vehicles can be used in physical and
occupational therapy sessions, in speech therapy as a means to increase
a child's expressive and receptive language skills, and to help the
children better socialize with their peers.
Troy thought this would be an excellent engineering project to bring
to Gilford High School, as did his introduction to engineering teacher,
Dan Caron. After petitioning the parent teacher association, PTA, to
provide the class money to buy the necessary parts and selecting the
students that would receive these vehicles, the students in Gilford
High School's, introduction to engineering class got to work.
The GoBabyGo! project was the students' final engineering assignment,
and to successfully build these mobility devices, the students used
everything that they had learned about the engineering design process.
First, the students visited with the three children, preschoolers
George and Morgan, and first-grader Chloe, to take their measurements
and determine how to best modify the Power Wheels to fit the specific
needs of the children. For instance, the students noted that Chloe's
left hand was weaker than her right, so they knew that they would need
to move the button that accelerates the vehicle to the left side of the
steering wheel, which allows her to accelerate with her weaker hand
while steering with her dominant hand.
The students also modified the headrest using pool noodles and
refitted the hard plastic seats with softer materials with a design
from the popular children's show, ``Paw Patrol.'' Since some of the
children have difficulty using their legs, the students rewired the
pedal functions to the steering wheel, so that the children could
easily start and stop the device with their hands.
After the vehicles were completed, Mr. Caron's class visited the
elementary school to present the children with their new mobility
devices. The Gilford Police and Fire Department helped by bringing the
two vehicles over to the school, which was fitting since the mobility
devices were designed to look like a police car and a fire truck. One
of the students even customized the vehicles with Gilford Elementary
School license plates in the front and New Hampshire plates in the back
with the students' names and made Gilford Fire and Police logos for the
front grills of the trucks.
The students presented the devices to two of the children in front of
almost the entire elementary school. Troy gave a presentation about the
project to the school in the hopes of inspiring more elementary school
students to get interested in the STEAM fields of science, technology,
engineering, art, and mathematics.
I congratulate these students for their ingenuity, hard work, and
compassion. I thank them for demonstrating that, by being inclusive, we
unleash the talent and energy of our friends and peers, strengthen our
communities, and bring joy and dignity to those who have been
marginalized.
____________________
