Good morning, Library friends! The Invention Convention team at The Henry Ford are looking for volunteer judges for the state finals competition at The Henry Ford Museum on Saturday, April 25. I'm not sure when the registration window closes, but the first of two training sessions for volunteers to choose from is April 7, so it's coming up soon! From their flyers: What is Invention Convention Worldwide? Invention Convention Michigan is the state affiliate of Invention Convention Worldwide and provides Michigan students an interactive and interdisciplinary opportunity to use the invention process to create and pitch an original product at a statewide competition. This FREE K–12 invention education program inspires students to become problem-solvers, innovators and entrepreneurs. Through hands-on, real-world, project-based learning, students gain confidence and skills that last a lifetime. Invention Convention Michigan (ICM) is looking for individuals to serve as judges for its state finals competition, held at Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation on Saturday, April 25, 2026. ICM, an affiliate of Invention Convention Worldwide, brings together problem-solvers, inventors and entrepreneurs of all ages, backgrounds and disciplines, and inspires our students to become the next generation of innovators. For the state competition, we need passionate volunteers to be judges who will evaluate and score inventions created by students to solve everyday problems. Volunteers will judge both online and in person. Top scoring students will earn an invitation to compete at U.S. Nationals in June. Who Can Be a Judge? You! Judges represent diverse disciplines and areas of expertise, all united by a shared commitment to advancing youth education and fostering innovation and entrepreneurship as pathways for students to think critically and drive meaningful change in the world. The estimated volunteer time commitment is approximately 6.5 hours [split between a training session on April 7 or April 9 and the event itself on April 25.] This is a cool program and they have a lot of great free STEAM programming resources that Children's Librarians might be interested in: Invention Convention | STEM + Invention Education<https://inhub.thehenryford.org/icw/home> Have a great week! Chris Land Technology Training Associate, Detroit Public Library Director of Operations and Outreach, Guild of Library Makers Franklin Branch Library 13651 E McNichols Detroit, MI 48205 main 313-481-1741 cland@detroitpubliclibrary.org We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That's a clear prescription for disaster. -Carl Sagan, Bringing Science Down to Earth, 1994 Oh no, something is happening to everything! -My 5-year-old, panicking as his LEGO sculpture disintegrates, 2015