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Kids! of the Month
Amazing Kids! is proud to highlight the Amazing Kids! of the Month! Each month, we showcase kids who are accomplishing amazing things. We hope that by telling their special stories, we will inspire other kids to accomplish their own amazing achievements.
Amazing Kids! of the Month for March, 2000: Amazing Young Inventors, Brothers Brandon and Spencer Whale, 10 and 7 years old, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
by the inventor of the Pace Maker, during Brandon's induction into the National Gallery for Young Inventors
The Amazing Whale Brothers What's more amazing than being an amazing young inventor? How about 2 brothers who are both amazing young inventors?!!! Meet Brandon Whale, age 10, and his brother Spencer Whale, age 7, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These amazing young inventors just so happen to also be brothers! Both brothers not only enjoy inventing, but are active in school and enjoy drawing and illustrating for their school newspaper! An Invention Idea is Born Brandon came up with the idea for his invention after his mother had an operation for a pacemaker implant, to help her heart function more efficiently. After leaving the hospital, her doctors needed her to send an EKG ("electrocardiogram") from her home to the hospital over the telephone wires using a modem. But Brandon's mom's wrists were small, and the sensor-bracelets used to send the EKG were too loose, which created a poor electrical connection. Brandon decided to add elastic to
the sensors on his mother's bracelet, and created packages
In 1998, the PaceMate was given an award in the Student Ideas for a Better America competition. Since then, Brandon has appeared on Nickelodeon, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and The Maury Povich Show. Now Brandon has his own company, which provides other pacemaker users with his product. He has also been asked to be the National Elementary Adviser for the Winner's League! In 1998, at 8 years of age, Brandon was inducted into the National Gallery of Young Inventors - the youngest kid to be inducted ever! You can read the story about his induction, along with the other 1998 inductees here: http://www.pafinc.com/1998.htm Amazing Spencer 7 year old 2nd grader Spencer Whale, Brandon's younger brother, has come up with his own amazing invention. He was inspired by the many visits to the hospital he made with his brother and mother. When he was just 6 years old, he noticed that the children who were riding their wheeled vehicles in the children's ward often were trailed by their parents, trying to keep up with them, pushing their wheeled IV stands (intravenous drip device with long tubes attached) behind them. The parents would often trip over the tubes, and pull the IVs out of their child's arms. That's when Spencer's inventive mind went to work! He thought it would be a great idea to actually attach the IVs to the wheeled vehicles the kids were riding in the hospital corridors, so their parents wouldn't have to chase behind them pushing the separate wheeled IV stand. Spencer went to work and built his first "prototype," (the first "test" product of an idea). Soon he was getting requests for his invention from the kids at the hospital! The toy company who made the wheeled vehicles found out about Spencer's new invention, and sent him a whole load of them so he could make several of his new invention. And before he knew it, all of the wheeled vehicles at the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital were equipped with the special new IV holders! Pretty amazing, huh? Now Spencer, like his brother Brandon before him, is up for induction in the National Gallery of Young Inventors for this year. The ceremony is scheduled to take place this September in Akron, Ohio. Spencer qualified to be nominated as a candidate for induction in the National Gallery of Young Inventors when he won the national competition "Student Ideas for a Better America," sponsored by the Partnership for America's Future, in 1999. If you discover you love inventing, like the Whale brothers do, watch out! You too just might get hooked on inventing! These amazing young inventors are having so much fun that Mrs. Whale says they are already busy creating new inventions. Hmmm...what could they be thinking up next?
This makes Spencer the youngest person ever to be inducted in the Gallery, beating his older brother Brandon's record by six months! Wow!!! Brandon says he is proud of his brother, because he knew someone would eventually beat his record, so who better than his own brother? In March, 2000, Spencer entered his invention into a large regional competition between 15 local school districts, at Allegheny Intermediate Unit's 12th Regional Invention Convention. His invention was among 217 projects in the competition held at Duquesne University. His brother Brandon also invented his newest invention, a tension ball decorated to look like a beetle, to help patients pump up their veins by squeezing it, before an intravenous needle is inserted into their arm. Guess what happened? You got it! Both boys won first-place awards for their grade levels at the Regional Invention Convention! Way to go, Whale brothers! Want to know more?
Read more about Brandon and his amazing invention on the Partnership for America's Future website: http://www.pafinc.com/whale.htm Read Brandon's story in an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday, September 21, 1998. http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19980921invent5.asp Read about the 1998 Inductees in National
Gallery Young Inventors, including Brandon Whale
<--Back to the March Amazing Kids! of the Month
Back to the Amazing Kids! of the Month Index
For more information about Amazing Kids!, please contact Alyse Rome, Executive Director, at: info@amazing-kids.org. |
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UPDATE:
March 22, 2000...Late breaking news! Congratulations
to Spencer! Spencer has just been chosen as an inductee for the National
Gallery for America's Young Inventors! He will be inducted in September
in an induction ceremony in Akron, Ohio.
