Student inventors make a 'splash' with new toy, win competition

Published: 2006-06-22

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- Four Catholic school students in the St. Louis area just finished sixth grade with a bang. Alexis Jennings, Gloria Maciorowski, Melissa Rey and Jack Terschluse are the Neon Warriors, a team of inventors who won the grand prize in the East Coast Nationals TOYchallenge competition. The Neon Warriors invented Splash Dash, a fitness-focused outdoor tag game that involves "blasting" opponents with splash balls. "We went through a lot of designs before we came up with the right one," Melissa told the St. Louis Review, newspaper of the St. Louis Archdiocese. "It was really fun to see our ideas working and in action." Alexis said, "My teammates and I started working on this project in early October. I love putting in all the work and, at the end, knowing the accomplishments my teammates and I have made is very rewarding." Gloria agreed. "I loved inventing the game." Jack added, "I learned one person can't do it all. You always need help on a project like this. A team is like a puzzle. You can't put together the puzzle if you don't have the pieces or the help from team members."

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