BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — On January 17, it's a time to pause and think about the thousands of cool creations by kids. After all, it's Kid Inventors' Day which also falls on Benjamin Franklin's birthday.
Who, by the way, is credited for inventing swim fins at the age of 11. But move over Ben, Kathryn Polstra of Bloomsburg is making a name for herself.
How did she get into being an inventor?
"Actually, it's mostly from my dad. My dad is also very into electronics and stuff, and he taught me how to solder when I was like seven or eight years old," explained Polstra.
Here's what she is currently working on.
"Right now, I'm working on this GoPro remote. My dad, one of his side jobs, is a jump plane pilot for skydivers. He wanted a way that you could easily control the GoPro that's on the jump plane so it can record the skydivers going down because a lot of people want videos of their jump. He wanted a way to easily record that. So then you just have to flick a few switches instead of remembering to turn it on. And it can actually sense when the door opens, and the altitude changes so that it turns on automatically. So, you don't have to remember to turn it on while you're flying," said Polstra.
Polstra says she's not entirely sure yet if she'll get a patent on this down the road.
"'We'll see how it goes," she said.
Until then, the junior at Bloomsburg Christian School continues to share her knowledge with other youngsters at community science fairs.
Newswatch 16's Ryan Leckey spoke with Ginny Weibel, the Executive Director at the Bloomsburg Children's Museum, about Polstra.
"Having a young person come and articulate the projects and the cool things that she does, you know, I can stand up there and be really excited and talk about things. But when you have another young person speaking to the same audience, it's really powerful," said Weibel.
Polstra is 16 and in 11th grade. Here are her long-term goals.
"I might go into computer Sciences and focus more on the programming aspects since I know how to program in Python and stuff," said Polstra.
It's a zest for technology that got started in our area by a teen whose inventions continue to inspire other kids giving them and so many of us a reason to smile.
By the way, you can learn more about Polstra's works and see other cool creations from local kids this Thursday, January 20, from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Bloomsburg Fire Hall.
It all ties into the Bloomsburg Children's Museum's seventh annual science fair in Columbia County.
For more information about the fair, click here.
Head here to learn more about 10 kid inventors who changed our lives.