Two West Branch pupils will head to a national competition after turning ideas into award-winning inventions.
Brooke Webber, 9, a home school pupil, and Isabella “Bell” McKinney, 12, a sixth-grader from West Branch Middle School, earned trips to the RTX Invention Convention U.S. Nationals. The contest runs June 3-5 at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich.
Brooke called herself “excited.”
“It was my goal to get to nationals,” she said, though she felt a bit “nervous” about going to such a big competition.
Bell agreed.
“I’m kind of happy, I guess, and nervous,” she said. “Only a little bit make it to nationals and I was able to get there. And, it’s nationals ... there’s a lot more people than there were at state.”
Brooke and Bell qualified for state along with two friends:
- Fourth-grader Adalynn Wade of Parnell is part of Mid-Prairie’s Home School Assistance program. She invented the “Ringaling.” and earned an award of excellence.
- Liam Webber, 7, a kindergarten homeschooler, invented the Tinker Toolbox. His and Brooke’s mother, Mandy, said Liam was the youngest presenter earning a trip to state.
The University of Iowa Jacobson Institute, which organizes Invention Convention groups in Iowa, hosted the state finals on April 11. About 2,400 Iowa children submitted ideas and about 100 qualified for the state finals. From there, 11 qualified for the national contest.
Brooke’s invention, the Tub Table, gives children an adjustable surface on which to place their toys while taking a bath. It contains small holes around the edges so splashed water drains back into the tub, not the floor.
Brooke said she got the idea from when Liam and their nearly 2-year-old brother, Bradley “Brady,” put toys on the edge of the bathtub, causing water to splash on the floor.
“There was water everywhere,” she said. “(Mom) said ‘How can we keep the water in the bathtub?’ And Liam said, ‘A forcefield!’”
With help from the University of Iowa engineering department and the UI Jacobson Institute, the Webber family made prototypes on a 3D printer using a plastic filament.
Brooke talked to 13 families with small children, all of whom agreed that bath time frequently turns into messy time. Four of those families gave the Tub Table test runs and liked it.
And now daughter of Tom and Mandy Webber has filed for a provisional patent for her invention.
Bell invented the Handy Dandy Teething Toy with a straightforward concept: add an adjustable strap.
“When the baby lets go, it doesn’t fall,” the daughter of Matt and Marisa McKinney said.
Bell said her neighbors had a young baby who frequently dropped — and lost — teething toys.
“I felt bad he was always losing his toys and the parents were always looking for them,” she said. “Teething toys are not cheap.”
Marisa said her daughter needs to get a final prototype ready for the national competition.
Mandy teaches Brooke and Liam in her Eureka Explorers Homeschool, and attended a professional development training at UI for the Invention Convention curriculum.
She said she combined the UI KidInnovator Toolkit with Henry Ford training to prepare her children for the contest.
The Webber, McKinney and Wade families are all friends, so the Webbers welcomed Adalynn and Bell to their Invention Convention group so they could submit their entries.
Qualifying for nationals costs money, Marisa said, so they are looking for sponsors to make the trip.
Each inventor must present to a Shark Tank-style panel of educational and industry judges, according to The Henry Ford museum.
Qualifiers will compete for patent application awards, cash prizes, and scholarships, according to the museum.
Author: Gregory R. Norfleet
Newspaper/publication: West Branch Times
Original publication date: Thursday, April 22, 2026
Direct link to the original: https://www.westbranchtimes.com/article.php?viewID=22596
Permission to share: granted by Gregory R. Norfleet
