MMA Team Advances to Nationals in Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Competition

A team of Merion Mercy Academy students has developed one of the 24 regional winning projects in the 2024-2025 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision competition. Thousands of team entries were submitted from across the United States and Canada in response to ExploraVision’s 33rd annual challenge to young people to create a vision of a new technology. ExploraVision selects 24 regional winners, one winner in every grade level in each of six regions. 

Twelve teams from Dr. Oakley’s 9th grade Honors Biology course developed projects for the competition. The team of Celeste Bottalico, Stella Boczkowski, Kate Del Pizzo, and Ryan Hilser was named a regional winner for its “Breathe Easy Bracelet,” a wearable inhaler for asthma sufferers that provides immediate relief. With a compact nebulizer built into the chamber, the albuterol can be quickly and efficiently transformed into a fine mist. The product even offers a variety of stylish and interchangeable bands for fashionable wear. 

Kate explains how her asthma was the impetus behind the project. “I have asthma and I frequently forget to bring my inhaler with me, and even when I remember, it’s a big thing to carry around all day. That led us to create the Breathe Easy Bracelet.”

As regional winners, the Merion Mercy team was awarded certificates, a banner, and a chromebook for the coach, Dr. Oakley, and each student on the team.

With the regional win, the Breathe Easy Bracelet advances to the national competition for which a product website, short video, and prototype of the technology are required. Those materials are due by April 16 and national competition winners will be announced May 5. 

In addition to the regional winning team, Dr. Oakley’s class had six teams awarded Honorable Mention, which means they were among the top 10% of all projects submitted. Those winning projects are: 

• Solaris - Victoria Olivencia and Jessica Rockwell
• HeartNest - Vera Chen, Gabrielys De la Cruz, Sophia Kidd, and Shelsie Luciano
• HealthWatch Pro - Emily Adamczyk, Jane Kilpatrick, Anabella LaBrier, and Giuliana Ross
• Automated Referee System (ARS) - Rose Connor, Valentina Eburne, and Eva Howard
• ApolloVision - Emma Anthony, Grace Killeen, and Erin Rebbechi
• Escape The Vaping: Count on Us - Zoe Brown, Alaina Surace, and Lily Walker

Of the experience, Dr. Oakley says, “'It’s very exciting to see such promise in this class of students. These are the strongest submissions we've had in a long time and they worked diligently to incorporate critical feedback from their classmates and from me to design innovative technology that could solve real world problems. I hope it inspires some of them to actually work on these types of problems in the future because we need adults who are as creative, passionate, and empathetic as these students.”

Read an interview with the team that appeared on Patch.com!