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In Search of Catholic School Excellence
Exploring the programs, people, and practices making a difference in Catholic education. Join host Thomas Boles as we hear from principals, teachers, and innovators shaping the future of Catholic schools. Whether you're a leader looking for ideas or an advocate for Catholic education, this show is your guide to what’s working—and why it matters.
Be sure to check out the show notes, as each episode comes with a companion guide to help you implement the ideas discussed during the episodes.
Thomas Boles: Welcome to In Search of Catholic School Excellence, the show where we spotlight the program's, people, and practices making a real difference in Catholic education today.
If you're a school leader striving to build a community of faith, excellence, and innovation, you've come to the right place.
Each episode brings you ideas that are working, stories that inspire and new possibilities for your school's mission.
Let's explore what's working and what's possible.
All right folks.
Welcome back.
This week we're talking with Kelly Sturgeon of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School in the Woodlands in Texas, and I came across St. Anthony's page when they were celebrating their invention convention in the spring.
And so I wanted to get a chance to talk to.
Kelly here and find out how they came about that.
I know that the invention convention's a thing that some schools are doing, but I think there's a, maybe a different twist here at St. Anthony's and instead of a usual science fair, we're getting kids to invent things.
So, Kelly, if we'd start off, if you wanna just tell a little bit about the school itself and, you know, your position, how'd you get there?
And then let's dive into where did the idea for the Invention Convention come in?
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah, so, we are in the woodland, Texas, and we are a pre-K three through eighth school.
So we have a little under 500 as our population.
So we, our class sizes are about, you know, 25, 26 and in our middle school, I am the only.
Middle school science teacher.
So I teach sixth, seven, and eighth for all those three years that they're with me.
And in our school in our local science fair, it is seventh and eighth only.
So sixth grade really didn't have anything to kind of prep them.
For that heavy usage of scientific method.
So when I first started, I came straight out of college.
I graduated from Texas a and m and I plopped right here in this classroom that I'm in, and the teacher before me had this invention convention in place and I looked in and it was a great backbone for what I wanted to do with the kids.
So over the years I've ti I've kind of turned it into science fair meets Shark Tank.
Where I have them not only apply the scientific method and dive into research and citation, but I have them think businesslike.
I have them think real world they are.
Taking a real life problem and they are finding a solution to it, which is so fun to see how that happens.
But I also have them like market research.
I have them take a focus group on what should their name be, what should what should there.
Even what products should they create in general, or so yeah, I have them kind of step out of their comfort zone.
At the end of the project, we have a a community invention convention that the parents can come.
Watch and see all of these kids explain and take ownership of their work, which is so cool to see.
And they can actually, like, you can see the looks on the parents' faces.
Like, man, I would've never thought of that.
But it's cool to see how these kids these days go from, I don't know what I'm gonna do for this project, to being like, wow, this is cool.
And I just think it gets them.
Thinking scientifically without shoving them into that science fair, full force, you know?
Thomas Boles: Yeah.
It seems like it's a lot of fun and actually, I mean, I think it might, obviously, you know your situation better, but from my perspective, it would seem like this
might overtake your science fair because, you know, in typical and not, I'm not saying this is your program, but in typical kids are finding science projects, right?
And then they're just executing correct.
And so they're just kind of going through the motions of, I just need to make sure that I can prove this thing that I already know is proved.
And so when you flip that on its head and say, well, let's actually be creative, even if the kids weren't so original that they had
to go find their idea online, like they couldn't think of anything, they have to be able to like put that together and hopefully.
You know, more likely are going to be able to create something pretty cool.
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah,
Thomas Boles: I mean, just
Kelly Sturgeon: absolutely.
Thomas Boles: Some of the pictures I saw were like the the ultimate pizza cutter, which is like, you know, so simple.
But like, yeah, I've thought about that myself, you know, and there, right.
Got some kid doing it.
And then like the, I think the other one that stuck out to me was the color caddy for the laundry basket.
Uhhuh also like super practical.
And something that I can believe a sixth grader came up with Uhhuh, you know?
Yeah.
Kelly Sturgeon: I always tell 'em, like, I, I want you to take ownership of it because I don't wanna see what your parents can put together.
I want, they can, you know, kind of throw in their 2 cents and we take a survey.
That's one of the first steps is they do, is I'm like, go home and take a survey of all these problems that people have, and then let's formulate from there.
So, but I'm like, it doesn't have to be earth shattering.
Right.
Take the simple and run with it, and that, that's where it gets kind of really cool.
Thomas Boles: Yeah.
And also I think, like you said, that you're getting them ready for that bigger thinking in seventh and eighth grade perhaps.
And that's a good transition because they're, you know, sixth graders are kind of like these, they're still little sponges.
They still wanna impress and yeah, they're gonna take.
You know, they're gonna take those instructions to heart and, you know, you might get something that you weren't expecting.
What was some of the other projects that you found that were kind of, kind of cool?
Kelly Sturgeon: So, I always tell this one of my kids, so, a place around here is called Orange Leaf, and it's like a frozen yogurt type place.
And they have the cups that you go to the machines and you put 'em in.
And this kid that I had, it was so simple, but he created a divider.
To go in the cup and then I kid you not probably a year after that kid left my room.
I saw them in all of the stores around.
I'm like, you could have sold this idea, man.
And made some money off of it.
And yeah, I thought that was, you know, like simple but yet so effective.
And one I actually bought off of a kid because I needed it for my house.
Right underneath your windows is that little ledge, and my dog would always scratch up.
That part when he would, you know, run to the window and this kid made.
A thing that slips over that.
So it looks like it's still exactly what was there.
It's not like a slip grip or anything.
But it keeps your windows ledges from getting off scratch up.
I bought a set for my entire house, like it was, it's so cool.
I love it.
Thomas Boles: Yeah.
How have you fostered that kind of the entrepreneur side?
How has that come about?
Do you just kind of throw it out there like, Hey, how can you.
You know, make this effective.
What are some of those parameters?
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah, so I tell him all the time, like the, like stories, even at a science or a invention convention, probably about two or three years ago, a kid actively sold his product right there at Invention Convention.
People were like, Hey, can I buy this for a dollar?
And he is like, sure.
And so he was actively selling that.
Tell them about it, they get kind of jazzed.
They're like so I can actually sell my item.
And I'm like, absolutely.
And one of our steps in the project is I want them to think realistically.
Like, Hey, how much did you.
Spend as far as supplies and how much would you realistically sell it for?
And take a survey of people like, Hey, would you actually buy it for that price?
So I'm getting them thinking like profit versus debt.
What do we got?
I, they love it.
They think it's great.
Thomas Boles: Yeah.
A little bit of marketing
Kelly Sturgeon: uhhuh.
Thomas Boles: That's cool.
Have you had many kids actually convert that and run with it?
You know, I mean, maybe not getting patents and all that, but you know, definitely selling a few around school, that type of thing.
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah, absolutely.
I wish, you know, to have a good, you know, success story.
Come back and throw a couple bucks my way, but we'll see.
Time's still young for me here.
Thomas Boles: Yeah.
You got time to build that up and hopefully they'll support your classroom going forward.
Kelly Sturgeon: I hope so.
Yeah.
Fingers crossed.
Thomas Boles: Yeah I think I've seen this kind of thing before in terms of, you know, separately, you know, let's develop an idea.
Let's you know, and this much more like in high school where they take an idea and they run through the concept.
They get all the marketing and they go out and they try to sell it at lunch or something like that.
Kelly Sturgeon: I
Thomas Boles: think there's a certain, there's a certain joy in that, but I think there's, it's also another piece to say, I've created the thing and here's why I created the thing.
Here's how I created the thing.
You know, whatever concepts I can tie into it.
In addition to, can I sell it?
Right?
So I think the mending, the blending of those two things, I think is what makes it kind of special.
Yeah.
Kelly Sturgeon: And being able to talk about it too, because a lot of kids aren't comfortable ta taking ownership or talking about their work.
And this kind of forces them, again, not into a full blown like science fair interview, but it allows them to have a little bit of fun with it and be a little persuasive.
So I think that all around benefits.
Getting them out of their box too.
Thomas Boles: Yeah, that's huge.
Is there a more shark tank part of it, or is it much like the science fair where folks are just walking around, they're giving their pitch constantly.
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah.
I always kind of tinkered with the idea of making like a competition out of it, but I never wanted something to be felt like unfair or, you know, teetered to one side.
I wanted them to still have that fun with it, so maybe one year.
But yeah, I just, I wanted them not to feel that sort of pressure necessarily on it.
Thomas Boles: Yeah.
And do so the actual event itself.
I imagine this is like in the gym or auditorium or something like that, and Uhhuh, the families are brought to it.
Are the other kids from the other classes also brought in to see it?
Kelly Sturgeon: They are.
So, last year the middle school elective classes were brought in and they were given like a sheet to go around and answered questions as they talk to, you know, essentially their classmates older and younger.
And even every year we have our kindergartners that show up.
So they get to see potentially one day, Hey, what are these big kids doing in the school and how are they creating something really cool and have it demonstrated for them?
The older kids love any opportunity to have the little ones around and.
Makes them seem that much cooler, which is amazing.
Oh
Thomas Boles: yeah, definitely.
Is it, and it's, that's during the day.
Is there like a nighttime piece or how does the larger community participate?
Kelly Sturgeon: We used to do one in the evening, but we found it was a lot more it was easier on our part to have it at the very end of the day.
So once they packed up and their parents were there, they could just, you know, take them home with them.
But we get, we have a very tight like school community and the amount of people that we have show up that cafeteria is.
Filled with people.
So it's really cool, even if their kid or their parent worked, they are being interviewed by all these other supportive parents and nobody is ever left out, which is great.
Thomas Boles: That's very cool.
It sounds like a really positive event and something that, you know, obviously you I found it because you were celebrating it, but that your school could celebrate even more.
Right?
It's very easy to get behind it.
The kids are, excited and hopefully sharing their projects, you know, with more than just their classmates.
And that sounds pretty cool.
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah.
Thomas Boles: Have you seen that spill over?
Lemme ask you this.
How many years have you done that now with the sixth, seventh, or sixth grade?
Kelly Sturgeon: So this is now my 16th year here at the school.
So we've had 15 rounds of invention convention.
Thomas Boles: Oh, wow.
Yeah.
That's really cool.
I, that would be so much fun to have like the wall of fame all years.
Kelly Sturgeon: Oh, that would be so cool.
Yeah.
I still have ones that just stick out in my brain.
I mean, my husband came.
And it was probably a good decade ago, and he still talks.
He's like, Hey, where is that cool hat kid?
And what is he doing now?
Yeah, exactly.
Thomas Boles: Yeah.
Are they're
Kelly Sturgeon: so memorable.
Thomas Boles: Where are they now?
Kelly Sturgeon: Right?
Yeah.
Thomas Boles: How have you seen that spill over into the science fair the next two years?
Kelly Sturgeon: I think it's an easier transition for them because they're used to the steps.
Like I've already had them thinking material, procedure research.
I've had them doing that.
So, even this year as their seventh graders now, I'm like, Hey, remember back to Invention Convention.
We've already done some of this stuff.
And it triggers that in their head.
And they wanna even still keep up inventing.
Or engineering as they go into science fair, which is, it's cool 'cause it, it starts to tap into their interest area and that's what I want.
I never want them to be bored doing their science fair.
I want them to be enjoying it because they're gonna work on it for so many months.
I don't want them to dread it, you know?
Thomas Boles: Yeah, exactly.
Has that spilled over into like, clubs or.
Outside of the project, has it bore any fruit?
Kelly Sturgeon: I don't think so.
I know sometimes the inventions, like sometimes they'll spill over to other teachers.
Like the other teachers will use the inventions at hand.
But I don't know if it's spilled over into any other parts of the school.
It was really cool during COVID year.
We had our virtual invention convention, so it was cool to see, like you could tell the kids were influenced by what was going on in their
world because they were coming up with like COVID related inventions and that was a really cool time to see their brains working like that.
So that was a good real life invention there.
Thomas Boles: And to turn the situation on its head, right?
With a big positive coming outta something that's maybe not so much.
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah, absolutely.
Thomas Boles: So I imagine this happens in the spring every year?
Yes.
And how many, what's the timeline leading up to the actual.
Convention.
Kelly Sturgeon: So I kind of, I mock it after my timeline of science fair.
So science fair is from August through January and I split all of the stuff apart as like checkpoints along the way.
And I tell the kids I do that, so I'm not like, Hey, I'll see you in January with your entire project because that would overwhelm them.
Right.
So for invention convention, since it's on a smaller scale, I take it from March, we usually do it right around spring break, we introduce it and then I will have it go typically to like beginning of May.
So they've got time to formulate and build and and yeah, and really be proud of what they've done.
Thomas Boles: Yeah, it sounds like that's great.
And if there, so are the invention convention also ending in February, or is It's later.
I wanna say it's later.
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah, the actual one that's, it's usually at the very end of our project.
So after the Invention Convention itself, they have their final step 10 of their project where they reflect back.
They figure, they tell me, Hey, what was your best one that you saw?
Do you think you could invent more?
How did you like the process?
So, yeah, it's at the very end of the of like about mid-May I would say.
Thomas Boles: Okay.
And so you have, you really have the benefit of them watching seventh, eighth graders kind of go through their thing.
And then to be able to build upon that.
Yeah.
And then, you know, cycle back, they've just had a great experience in May of.
Of the previous year, they're starting up their project in August.
It's like fresh, right?
Kelly Sturgeon: Absolutely.
Yeah.
They can remember, like I said, that's why I like trigger it in their brain.
Even now I'm like, remember back to what we did and how we are gonna improve upon it this year.
I'm gonna challenge you more than I did because you're older and you can handle more of a a more difficult task basically.
Thomas Boles: That's cool.
That's really smart on terms of the calendar because typically everybody just throws everything at the end.
But yeah, this is a way that you can think about it scaffolding year over year.
That's really great.
I love this idea.
I love entrepreneurship.
It's always, you know, a big part of my world.
Yeah.
So to see that happening with the kids, it's really cool.
We've always done like, you know, t-shirt competitions.
Even my old days when I was teaching math, it was, you know, we taught systems of equations.
Through entrepreneurship.
So, I think you can catch kids in different ways and I think this sounds like.
You've really caught the attention of these kids and it's something that you've built up over 16 years.
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah.
It's crazy to think that it's been that long.
Yeah.
Thomas Boles: Yeah.
That's really cool.
Where do you see it going next?
Do you feel like you've, you can't have reached your pinnacle yet.
You still got some tricks in of your sleeve, I imagine.
Kelly Sturgeon: Always.
I'm constantly.
Thinking of the next best thing to do.
I tell the kids, I'm like, Hey, I get bored of stuff too.
I wanna change it up and then edit things every year.
Maybe adding in that competition aspect to it, if I can find out the right way to handle it and to make it, you know, as fair as possible.
That would even be super cool in the end and really give that more of a shark tank feel of getting their shark.
You know?
So who knows, maybe I can formulate something like that in the next couple of years.
Thomas Boles: Yeah, I think that's a good opportunity.
Even if you want to take out the, you know, you don't want to make it so heavy on the competition because that's not your focus.
Yeah.
But, you know, involving the community in some way, you know, perhaps even solving the problem.
That proposed by community members, like,
Kelly Sturgeon: yeah, this is
Thomas Boles: an issue for our particular organization.
Lots of different ways to kind of really make it new for you.
As much as for them, right?
Yeah.
I mean, every sixth grader's coming in brand new, so it's all new to them.
But you know, you've obviously built something great and you can just keep going.
I'm excited.
Thank you.
I'll be looking forward to this year when I get to, to read about that too.
Absolutely.
Kelly Sturgeon: Keep checking back.
Thomas Boles: Yeah.
And hopefully one day I'll make it to the Woodlands.
Kelly Sturgeon: Hey, come on out.
I'll, we'll have some food ready for you.
Thomas Boles: That sounds good.
My wrap up question is I'm imagining there's a teacher out there, maybe a principal out there who's listening to this and thinking, you know what this sounds like something fun I want to do.
I want to do something different or maybe offer my sixth graders a different experience.
What would you say would be like the first kind of baby steps to get them started or for them to think about as they try to build out this program going forward?
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah, I would for sure do a little research on the actual true invention convention that they do hold and just become kind of more knowledgeable about what it is and the true like, goal behind it all.
Giving your students a foundation of scientific method is probably the one of the most important things that these kids need at that age, and to be supported along the way.
So I would say just baby steps.
Don't blow it up into a huge thing.
Maybe even do it as a group project before you start breaking it off into individuals.
So take it as, I mean, you know, your students take it as slow and as.
Pace is you can handle it.
And then, like I said, it took me 15 years to keep editing and tweaking.
So you'll eventually get it to where you're happy and you want it to be, but don't stress yourself out doing it.
That's the biggest thing that I can offer to people is that.
These kids are gonna learn one way or the other, make it the best that you can meet yourself where you're at, and your students will rise to the occasion.
Thomas Boles: That's so good.
You gotta bottle that.
You gotta put that on a t-shirt or something.
I think that's entrepreneurship.
Kelly Sturgeon: There you go.
Yeah.
Thomas Boles: That's so good.
Yeah.
I think it's so important to.
I'm a big a big proponent of like, let's just get it done.
You know?
Yeah.
Let's do something.
And if it's not as big, you know, your community is gonna embrace it.
The kids are gonna embrace it, the families are gonna love it.
They're gonna celebrate, they're gonna give a thousand photos, you know, they're just gonna love, eat it all up, whether it's tiny or ginormous.
So, yeah, you know, either way, make it easy on yourself to begin and.
Let it grow as you want it to.
Yeah.
That's so, such a good such a good piece of advice.
I appreciate that.
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah.
Well,
Thomas Boles: Kelly I thank you for your time.
I know it's end of the school day for you and you ready to get home, but I really feel like this was a good opportunity to learn about your program and hopefully inspire some other teachers to do the same.
Kelly Sturgeon: Yeah, I hope so.
Thank you for having me.
Thomas Boles: Thanks for joining us on In Search of Catholic School Excellence.
We hope you heard something inspiring or something you'd like to try at your own school.
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