MARBLEHEAD — Epstein Hillel School sixth graders Alice Dunn and Charlie Sobelman won ADI’s “Make the Change Challenge” with their simple yet creative prototype.
Students throughout North America were challenged to design a solution to help disabled people better navigate the world. Marblehead’s winning duo designed “The Confidence Patch,” a decorative sticker to be made with SecondSkin — which is waterproof and flexible — technology that would surround the feeding tube for pediatric patients with dysphagia (difficulty swallowing).
“When everyone gets a cut, when you’re little, everyone likes (the) little design Band-Aids with the cartoons on them,” Charlie said. “So we (focused on) kids. We thought of making designs on the patch to make it look fun, and they’re endless. You could do holidays, seasons, customs, hobbies, animals. We wanted it to be fun and enjoyable.”
The six judges, who were medical professionals and engineers, were particularly impressed that the duo addressed mental health in addition to physical health. They also praised these Marblehead sixth graders for sharing an idea that would be affordable to create.
“With me personally having some mental disorders, it’s definitely important to help out people’s mental health with confidence because it’s not good to have a huge ego, but it’s better to have confidence in yourself than to think: ‘I’m hideous. No one wants to be friends with me. Everything sucks.’
“We didn’t want to be disrespectful, but we kind of were disgusted by the way (a feeding tube) looks, and I feel like (people with feeding tubes) are, too, because of all the bandages and stitches around the tube. It can lower their confidence,” Alice said. “This is waterproof and can help the tube stay still, so it would cover that and help, which is why it would also boost confidence.”
After many rounds of blind judging and a finalist presentation Feb. 23, Alice and Charlie’s design won first place out of 312 entries from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. from students in grades 4-12. The pair was awarded $500 each for their win, and an additional $250 was awarded to EHS.
Alice said, once it was announced that “The Confidence Patch” had won, “we were jumping out of our seats, screaming.”
The project was student-driven, but Upper School Science Teacher Lauren Zoerhoff assisted with the scientific portion of the project, and Upper School Hebrew & Jewish Studies Teacher Miri Sharon helped with the connection to Judaism.
Sharon mentioned that the values showcased through Charlie and Alice’s project directly correlate to the Torah. She cited Leviticus 19:14 Parashat Kedoshim: “You shall not insult the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind.”
“It is a mitzvah. It’s a command to treat nicely the person who is a little bit weaker or challenged and to help them, to be fair to them. It’s in the Torah,” Sharon said. “It’s not something that we invented in the 20th century. It’s been in us for many, many years, and it’s part of being Jewish. We’re doing this from the get-go, or from Moses time, or whatever you want to call it.
“This is embedded in us as Jewish people, to help people with disabilities and accept them and make them part of our society with no difference than others. This challenge is really part of this and trying to teach our kids how to have this inclusivity without pointing it out, and I think that’s exactly what Charlie and Alice reached.
“They just made our school proud, very proud, and education comes in many shapes and forms, and I think this is one of them.”
