March 26th 2011
Young Inventors at C.C.S.S.
By Michael Peterkin

Your day is rough enough and you are restless. It causes your body temperature to rise. Paper is everywhere on your desk and this spoils your day. Don’t worry because the CTLT desk organizer is coming your way.

At the Castries Comprehensive Secondary School the premier technical and vocational institution on the island, Form one and two students are exposed to a subject called Design and Technology. The introduction of this subject into the lower secondary school curriculum attempts to develop a more holistic and complete approach to teaching technical and vocational subjects. The purpose of introducing such a subject in the school curriculum is to allow students to develop their creativity and practical approach to solving problems. Design and Technology will provide students with the opportunity to develop problem solving skills, discover their own potential, become independent thinkers, learn how to adapt to their changing environment and develop creative abilities that will influence innovations.

Cheris Fitz, Tania Pitcairn, Liane Scantlebury and Tessa Giliard are four form two students of the Castries Comprehensive Secondary School. Under the topic, “Technology” these four students were given the task of using today’s technology to design and construct the idea.
Technology is defined as the application to develop tools, materials, techniques and systems to help people meet and fulfil their needs.

The CTLT desk organizer is named after its designers, Cheris, Tania, Liane and Tessa and is a combination of a fan, pencil holder, clock, light, cell phone holder and two drawers. It is a hassle free product which assists in having an office desk organized.
The plan was to create a convenient and portable desk organizer to fit in any office situation. An office with much clutter has lots of disadvantages including low levels of productivity because much time is wasted searching for pertinent items.

The design justification is as follows:
• Pencil / Pen holder – storage of pens, pencils, white ink etc.
• The Clock – A quick glance of time, without have to rise to turn the head while sitting at the desk
• The Light – Additional light is always an advantage when working late or for persons with poor vision
• 2 drawers – Temporarily store important documents, business cards etc.
• Cell phone holder – store cell phone in an upright position for a quick glance / storage of office and keys etc.
In today’s world of Science and Technology students are becoming more visual and kinesthetic learners. Design and Technology is geared towards these types of learners. Of course, it must be mentioned that with our current global economic situation the education sector should be more inclined to produce students.

The four students Cheris Fitz, Tania Pitcairn, Liane Scantlebury and Tessa Gilliard received a final grade of “A” for their CTLT desk organizer. They were encouraged to continue to excel in the area of Design and Technology.

We couldn’t have just left you with out a preview of what the other schools had to offer at this year’s Science Fair and I am sure our young inventors from Castries Comprehensive won’t mind sharing a little of the bright spotlight with a few well deserving scientists.

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