Wheels Of Progress Teens Win Award For Wheelchair Of The Future

A wheelchair with ice skates wasn’t brilliant enough for an award-winning team of young research scientists.

Their wheelchair also walks up stairs. And it lifts its user to the highest kitchen cabinet. And it comes with snow tires, air bags and a radio.

Did we mention the cup holder?

“We wanted to make it so anybody who isn’t disabled would want to use it,” said Nicole Riches.

Riches, Eleanor Tripp, Rachelle Colquhoun and Julie Weatherred won a regional award in the ExploraVision science competition for their visions of wheelchair technology.

Their 10-page report explained the breakthroughs in computer electronics and hydraulics needed before their chair could be built.

The Sacajawea Middle School eighth-graders’ project was chosen from 63 entries in their age group in five states and four provinces.

Nearly 20,000 students entered nationwide.

Winning means more work. The team will make a videotape about their research and compete at the national level for the top prize: $10,000 per student and a trip to Washington, D.C.

But first they must coordinate their busy schedules. Collectively, the girls are involved in volleyball, basketball, band, drill team, dance and student government.

The contest, sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association and Toshiba Corp., asks teams of students to research a current technology and make predictions about its future.

The team traced the history of the wheelchair from “bath chairs” invented in 1750 by James Heath of Bath, England, to a voice-controlled wheelchair created by NASA.

They learned about low-cost wheelchairs designed for people in Third World countries and that there are 1.4 million wheelchairs in use in the United States.

They decided their chair should allow its user to do anything an ablebodied person could do, even skate.

They discovered that Rachelle and Julie are the comedians, Eleanor is the organizer and Nicole keeps them sane.

“It taught us to work together and depend on each other to get it done,” said Rachelle.

Friends before they started, the girls’ hard-working and creative personalities meshed.

“I guess we chose the right group,” said Julie.

Science teacher Virginia Ledgerwood, who last year won $10,000 from the science teachers association to develop a program on studying the human body, asked all her seventh- and eighth-grade students whether they wanted to compete.

They did, so she made it part of her science program this year. Students chose their own teams and projects, which included a futuristic train, desk, wristwatch and postal system. Ledgerwood guided them to resources, kept them thinking and typed some of their reports.

The winning team was inspired by a Sacajawea seventh-grader who uses a wheelchair.

Tyler Byers, 12, participates in student government, cross-country and wrestling despite spina bifida, a birth defect. He broke the school record by doing 35 pull-ups.

The team plans to interview him for their videotape. They also want to interview a wheelchair athlete and use footage from Bloomsday.

“If anyone can help us, have them call,” said Eleanor.

What will they do with the money if they win the big prize?

They answer almost in unison:

“College.”