Inventive students honored for advancing bicycle safety

By Josephine McKenrick 

Director of Marketing & Communications 

Cincinnati Country Day School

Wednesday, April 10, was a big day at Cincinnati City Hall with the Cincinnati Country Day School InvenTeam (CCDS). The team attended a Cincinnati City Council meeting to receive a proclamation from the City Council, sponsored by Councilmember Mark Jeffreys, recognizing their work to advance bicycle safety. Jeffreys introduced the team and described how impressed he was with them and their work after he visited with the team earlier this spring. The team demonstrated its patent-pending invention to council members and explained the invention’s purpose. Council members gave the team a standing ovation for their work and several council members congratulated them on their dedication to solving a problem that impacts the community.

The CCDS InvenTeam also met with the head of the Department of Transportation and Engineering, John Brazina, and civil engineers on his staff to learn about the department’s bicycle safety efforts and give a demonstration of the invention. Several staff members who are bicyclists approached the team and were very interested in using the device when it’s ready for market.

As Councilmember Jeffreys said, “Sometimes young people in our community do really exceptional things.”

In 2023, Cincinnati Country Day School was awarded a Lemelson-MIT (LMIT) InvenTeam grant to create an invention geared towards improving road bike safety. Country Day is one of only eight high schools nationwide to be selected to have an InvenTeam for the 2023-24 school year. In June, the team will travel to Cambridge, Mass. to present its invention at EurekaFest. According to the LMIT website, “EurekaFest is an event that empowers student inventors, empowers role models, and encourages creativity and problem-solving.”