[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 106 (Monday, June 24, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S4454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





   TRIBUTE TO THE STUDENTS OF GILFORD HIGH SCHOOL'S INTRODUCTION TO 
                           ENGINEERING CLASS

 Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I am proud to recognize the 
students of Gilford High School's introduction to engineering class as 
June 2019 Granite Staters of the Month. These students successfully 
applied their engineering knowledge to create personalized, easy-to-use 
mobility devices for three young students in their community who 
experience disabilities.
  The idea for this project came from Troy Gallagher, who just 
graduated from Gilford High School and will attend Texas Tech in the 
fall. Last summer, Troy participated in an advanced studies program at 
St. Paul's School, where he took a 5-week engineering course that 
introduced him to the University of Delaware program GoBabyGo!, which 
works with communities around the world to modify ride-on cars for 
children with disabilities. The vehicles can be used in physical and 
occupational therapy sessions, in speech therapy as a means to increase 
a child's expressive and receptive language skills, and to help the 
children better socialize with their peers.
  Troy thought this would be an excellent engineering project to bring 
to Gilford High School, as did his introduction to engineering teacher, 
Dan Caron. After petitioning the parent teacher association, PTA, to 
provide the class money to buy the necessary parts and selecting the 
students that would receive these vehicles, the students in Gilford 
High School's, introduction to engineering class got to work.
  The GoBabyGo! project was the students' final engineering assignment, 
and to successfully build these mobility devices, the students used 
everything that they had learned about the engineering design process.
  First, the students visited with the three children, preschoolers 
George and Morgan, and first-grader Chloe, to take their measurements 
and determine how to best modify the Power Wheels to fit the specific 
needs of the children. For instance, the students noted that Chloe's 
left hand was weaker than her right, so they knew that they would need 
to move the button that accelerates the vehicle to the left side of the 
steering wheel, which allows her to accelerate with her weaker hand 
while steering with her dominant hand.
  The students also modified the headrest using pool noodles and 
refitted the hard plastic seats with softer materials with a design 
from the popular children's show, ``Paw Patrol.'' Since some of the 
children have difficulty using their legs, the students rewired the 
pedal functions to the steering wheel, so that the children could 
easily start and stop the device with their hands.
  After the vehicles were completed, Mr. Caron's class visited the 
elementary school to present the children with their new mobility 
devices. The Gilford Police and Fire Department helped by bringing the 
two vehicles over to the school, which was fitting since the mobility 
devices were designed to look like a police car and a fire truck. One 
of the students even customized the vehicles with Gilford Elementary 
School license plates in the front and New Hampshire plates in the back 
with the students' names and made Gilford Fire and Police logos for the 
front grills of the trucks.
  The students presented the devices to two of the children in front of 
almost the entire elementary school. Troy gave a presentation about the 
project to the school in the hopes of inspiring more elementary school 
students to get interested in the STEAM fields of science, technology, 
engineering, art, and mathematics.
  I congratulate these students for their ingenuity, hard work, and 
compassion. I thank them for demonstrating that, by being inclusive, we 
unleash the talent and energy of our friends and peers, strengthen our 
communities, and bring joy and dignity to those who have been 
marginalized.

                          ____________________