April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
SPARK OF CREATIVITY
For young inventor, cleanliness is literally next to godliness
Altar server Connor 'gets famous' for Germ Assassin
"I like making estimates about what's going to happen to stuff if I mix it with something else," he told The Evangelist. In short, "I want to know if something blows up."
That streak of mischievous curiosity has paid off for Connor, an altar server at St. John the Evangelist and St. Joseph parish in Rensselaer: He's twice been named a top-25 finalist in the Capital District Invention Convention, a competition that tasks more than 1,000 kindergarten- through eighth-grade students with submitting an original idea for a device or method that solves a problem.
In the beginning
Connor's first award-winning invention was something he dubbed the Lego Sorter, which uses a system of foam layers to sort Lego toy pieces. Its purpose: "so you can prevent cranky moms with Lego issues," he explained.
He built that contraption while he was in first grade at The Doane Stuart School in Rensselaer, where he's currently a third-grader. The school incorporates the competition into the curriculum up to fourth grade.
Last year, as a second-grader, Connor invented the Germ Assassin, a device that attaches to doorknobs and automatically sanitizes them for the next user. He notes, "This is the one I'm pretty famous for. Everyone wants one."
In fact, a YouTube video of the invention caught the attention of producers for the Steve Harvey talk show this fall. They called Connor's parents ("on a Monday," he clarified). The family, with Connor's invention in tow, flew to Chicago for an interview in October.
"It felt really good," Connor said of the appearance. "It's not really often [adults have] a kid on TV."
His mother, Marcia Caryofilles, insists Connor's 15 minutes of fame "has not gone to his head.
"Honestly, at first, I thought [the producers' call] was a joke," she said. "You don't think of these things happening."
The doorknob sanitizer was born out of a visit to the Rensselaer police station, where Ms. Caryofilles is a secretary. Connor and his mother - who has no scientific expertise, just a fondness for it - have done many science experiments together on weekends; Connor wanted to see how many germs live on doorknobs, so they swabbed all the handles at the station and stashed the cell culture dishes in a closet for two weeks.
Cleaning up
"It gave time for the bacteria to grow," Connor explained. They then counted the number of colonies on each sample. "Some of them were just like greenish yellow. One of them was pink. Another was a dark crimson."
The findings served as good fodder for Connor's Invention Convention project, and he devised the Germ Assassin concept. When the judges liked it enough to ask for a prototype, Ms. Caryofilles and Greg Danz, Connor's father, helped him deconstruct an automatic hand sanitizer machine and cobble together a replica of a door.
"One of the reasons he's been so successful is [that] his problems have been so personal," Ms. Caryofilles said.
Connor explained that his classroom and an adjacent bathroom are hotbeds of bacteria.
"Plus, none of us wash our hands," he said of his peers. "[Germ Assassin] could stop spreading germs."
When he's not trying to market his products - he's currently working on a "Super Popcorn Bucket Napkin Dispenser," "since my mom always yells at me, "Get the napkins!'" - Connor plays football, chess and violin, goes bowling and practices karate. He started altar serving, on his own initiative, at his parish this summer.
On the altar
Everyone was more concerned about his height than his age (though, he contends, "I'm taller than I look").
"He could barely reach the shelf where the sacred vessels were," said Rev. R. Adam Forno, pastor. "He did it, barely."
Connor also balanced the missal on his head for a while.
"He is so [adorable]," Father Forno said. "People have literally slipped him dollar bills at the back of the church after Mass."
The priest trained his youngest server with index cards and assuaged any nervousness by telling him to think of the church's aisle as a bowling-alley lane. "He [serves] with a smile and he does it with such ease," Father Forno said. "He's been showing up faithfully every Saturday. He's not really scheduled; he just shows up."
Connor says serving makes him "feel nice because you're just at church. It's actually kind of relaxing. It calms you down. "
To the third-grader, faith means "happiness" and "fun, too." When he prays, he said, "I thank God for some things that are in the world, like our parents, family, friends - that stuff."
Making his First Communion last year made him "happy, kind of like I'm at the table of God. That's what it means to me."
Priest/scientist?
Connor already plans to follow in his father's footsteps; Mr. Danz was an altar server until the end of high school.
That's fine by Father Forno: "There's a dearth of children wishing to serve. We don't have a school where you have that culture," he said. Connor is "just such an unabashed little gentleman. I don't look up when I'm praying, but you can just feel that people are smiling."
Father Forno sees a vocation to the priesthood in Connor's future. Connor foresees building a secret robot in his dad's garage, where he likes to dissect electronics.
"You'd be amazed what he's done there," Mr. Danz said. "Anything you give him to take apart, he'll take it apart."
The Steve Harvey producers claimed that Connor is "special" when it comes to intelligence. His parents disagree.
"I really think he's an average kid," Ms. Caryofilles said.
"Who," Mr. Danz added, "has a wonderful imagination. You want to think he's special, just hang out with him for a day."
When asked if he believes he's a genius, Connor said proudly, "Yes. Because [of] my cool inventions."[[In-content Ad]]
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