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As summer approaches and the end of schoolwork is in sight, many parents will soon begin hearing the all-too familiar phrase “I’m bored” from their children. While most 11-year-olds would simply go outside or play a video game, Knighten Cooper, a fifth grader at Wonders of the Ozarks Learning Facility decided he wanted to be more creative with his free time. KSMU’s Royal Yates got some one-on-one time with Knighten to hear his story.
As I walk into the Wonders of the Ozarks Learning Facility, I realize that this must be a great outlet for creative and adventurous young children. The fifth graders I meet seem excited to be here, and I can see why. Antlers and animals of various colors and kinds line the walls of the five room school. I hear of the field trips the students take weekly to learn about the wildlife we have in southwest Missouri and how each and every organism plays a role in the world around us.
With all the activity and fun the kids seem to have at school, it’s no surprise that it can get boring after school is out. 11-year-old Knighten Cooper said that was when he started looking for competitions to enter.
“My mom told me to go online and look for competitions, and the reason I picked this competition is because I like to invent stuff and do art and things like that,” he said.
Knighten decided to enter a competition where children use bubble wrap in new, inventive ways, and he’s now a national semi-finalist. He had more than a page and a half, front and back, of things he could make with bubble wrap. First, he wanted to use the bubble wrap to make shoes that walked on water. But he said he “couldn’t get the balance right.” Then, he thought about making shoes that popped when you walk. But then again, that didn’t really make sense. Finally, Knighten decided you could use bubble wrap as a physical therapy aid.
He said, “We have a [family] friend who’s a physical therapist, and to fine tune it [the idea] we called them. But, first, instead of doing the shoe I decided to roll it out and just walk across it because you have to wear your shoes to do physical therapy.”
He then demonstrated how the bubble wrap could be placed between parallel bars over cardboard cutouts shaped like footprints for folks who suffer from leg injuries. He showed me that the footprints could be placed further apart or closer together to challenge someone who is working on improving their muscular strength or even learning how to walk again.
Knighten also said the bubble wrap would pop when the patient placed their weight on their foot. A physical therapist, who is a friend of the family, said often people will support their weight with their arms instead, but this tool could help hold people accountable to their therapy.
Becky Ziegler is Knighten’s teacher.
She told me, “From a teacher’s perspective, this is right up his alley. He is such a creative kid, and he has a great heart, too, which he neglects to tell you. But he has a big heart, and when he told us about the project we were not at all surprised that he chose to do something that would benefit other people because that’s the kind of kid that he is.”
Knighten will find out later this week if he qualifies as a national finalist, which will make him eligible for a trip to New York City and a $10,000 savings bond. He says that if he wins the money, he’ll use it to help pay for college.
For KSMU News, I’m Royal Yates.
