A Goddard High School student has created a new device she hopes will help foster children in bad situations.
Freshman Rylee Montes says she has friends who’ve had terrible experiences in foster care.
Stories of foster kids who needed help gave Montes an idea to invent a solution.
“She ran away and got found by the police, and after that they took her to the hospital,” said Montes.
That’s just one of many abuse stories she has heard from friends in the foster care system.
And now, at just age 14, the young inventor has come up with an option.
“The funny thing about this is that I didn’t think it’d make it, because this is kind of like a five minute idea, just came up with it,” said Montes.
With the help of several other Goddard High students, Montes will be competing in a national competition, with a new device.
“It’s been really amazing being part of this project,” said Tori Quattlebaum, a junior. “It’s a really great opportunity to impact my community.”
Right now, students are coding the device. And with the click of a button, a foster kid can send a text message asking for help.
“Once the button is pressed, it will send the message to the recipient with a Geolocation tag, or a Google Map link, that they can locate the child in need,” said Cassie Banka, an engineering teacher at Goddard High.
The group has a few weeks to go on building the prototype. But, the students look forward to seeing the impact, they believe it’s going to have.
“That would make me feel very happy and excited about, if I saved someone’s life,” said Montes. “We all did.”
Montes and the team, won a state award for the invention in the Samsung “Solve for Tomorrow” competition.
They’re hoping to win the national award in March after they submit their prototype.
