A winning game for a career tech educator and his students

It began with a request for assistance in repairing an academic quiz game, but success became the name of the game for an Akron, Ohio, career and technical educator and his students.


By Phyllis Bernel


In December 2001, the Akron Public Schools Career Education Tech Prep Engineering program at East High School received the Young Entrepreneurs Award at the Young Inventors? Hall of Fame luncheon. The event is held each year in Akron, Ohio. The award was presented to instructor Fred Weiss and his students for the invention and manufacture of the game, QuizMaster.

A History of QuizMaster

In 1986, when Weiss was teaching Allied Technology (the forerunner of Tech Prep Engineering) at Garfield High School in Akron, he was asked if he could make repairs to a relay control for an academic-challenge type of game. This particular game was totally mechanical, big, bulky and heavy and could not be kept in good working condition. Weiss and his students were able to fix the game but knew there could be a much better version.

In 1992, when Weiss was teaching Computer Robotics at East High School in Akron, he was asked if he could make a new kind of quiz game. It was that request that set the wheels in motion for a new, computerized quiz game.

In a matter of time, presenters from Akron?s Children?s Hospital asked for a couple of these game units to be used in conjunction with health program presentations made to Akron Public Schools students. Children?s Hospital had learned that one of the best ways to keep the attention of a young audience is to engage them in interactive, game-like activities that coincide with presentations. As presentations continued throughout the Akron schools, more teachers became aware of the quiz games and began to ask how and where they might obtain one.

A somewhat low-key, in-house advertising program was launched via the Office of Career Education?s coordinator, Dick Hoover. Advertising flyers were circulated, and soon there were about 40 quiz games within the Akron system. These sites served as a ?study group? for Weiss to ascertain how the invention held up in the classroom and to learn about possible design flaws.

One major flaw in the construction of the unit was that, when dropped or knocked off a surface, inertia drove the game transformer through the circuit board causing it to break. This sent Weiss and his students back to the drawing board. The result was a design change that placed the power source outside of the unit, thus eliminating the problem.

In the mid-90s, Nick Frankovits from the Akron-based organization Partnership for America?s Future began making presentations to Weiss? classes, which were by that time Tech Prep Engineering classes. He included pep talks about becoming inventors and emphasized the fact that inventors receive royalties from the sales of their inventions.

In addition, Frankovits contacted Frey Scientific to encourage the idea of adding the quiz game to their catalog. Frey Scientific, a large educational product wholesaler, very much liked the idea of the quiz game. During the second half of the 1996-97 school year, a partnership was formed between the East High School Tech Prep Engineering program and Frey Scientific.

Student Involvement Grows

Needing an official name for the quiz game, Weiss enlisted the English Department at East High School. A name-the-game contest was held for students, from which the name QuizMaster was selected. Once the name was chosen, a product logo and the advertising ?blurb? were developed by Weiss and his students. Frey began to advertise QuizMaster in its national catalog, and the orders began coming in. During the last three quarters of 1997, 22 units were sold.

It soon became clear that Weiss and his students could not keep up with orders. Again, it was back to the drawing board for his students to examine ways to speed up production, to eliminate bottlenecks and to find ways to meet the increasing demands for QuizMaster. Would it be prudent for the students to continue to manufacture circuit boards for the QuizMaster, or would it be better to have the circuit boards made by someone else?

One major item to consider was the number of inconsistencies from one board to another. Holes and corresponding parts would not properly align, which would greatly slow down production. It seemed nearly impossible to skillfully assemble the units. A time/cost analysis that students did on making their own circuit boards vs. having them made by a professional circuit board manufacturer revealed that the in-house cost was $15.50 per game with an estimated 1.5 hours to make the board. Through outsourcing, the cost was $10.50, with an added bonus of the elimination of manufacturing inconsistencies.

Sales of the game began to skyrocket, as did production. In 1998, sales increased to 65 units; in 1999, the number rose to 120; and in 2000, the number soared to 175. In 2001, the number of QuizMaster units grew to 245, making the total sales upwards of 700. Now, Weiss and his students faced yet another dilemma. Ever-increasing orders made it nearly impossible to keep up with demand. Weiss considered recruiting students from East High, but these students were unskilled, and too much time would be spent teaching the necessary manufacturing skills.

The most feasible solution seemed to be to enroll the services of another electronics program. The Career Education Electronics Technology program at Akron?s Garfield High School (John Macak, instructor) and the electronics program at Kent Roosevelt High School in Kent, Ohio (Jeff Leseur, instructor), were recruited to manufacture QuizMaster. Both Garfield High School and Kent Roosevelt have been participating for the past couple of years. During the 2001-02 school year, Weiss enlisted students from the Electronics Program in Parma (Joe Delio, instructor). In addition, Garfield?s Machine Technology students drill and rout the boxes in which QuizMasters are mounted.

Though assembling the QuizMaster has been outsourced, Tech Prep Engineering students inspect every single QuizMaster before shipping from East High. After inspection, the games are packed and shipped?all by the students.

Shipping costs seemed extremely high, which led to another assignment for Weiss? class: finding the best and least expensive way of shipping QuizMaster to customers. Students contacted UPS, FedEx, the U.S. Mail, etc., but from information found on the Web, they discovered that by banding the game in clusters of up to five, the cost of shipping was just slightly more than the cost to ship one unit of QuizMaster.

Another cost-cutting option was to contact a supplier to inquire about getting discounts on electrical components. Since QuizMaster did so much business with the supplier, the discount was given.

More than Inventors and Entrepreneurs

Winning the Young Entrepreneurs Award truly is an honor for Weiss and his Tech Prep Engineering students and is a source of great pride for the Office of Career Education, East High School and the entire Akron Public Schools system. This is a premier example of education being extended beyond the classroom.

During every phase of the creation of QuizMaster, students were given the opportunity to ?think outside the box.? In so doing, they developed sophisticated thinking processes: mastery of problem-solving skills, becoming more inventive and analyzing costs. Equally significant is that they learned the importance of providing a quality product.

Through QuizMaster, Weiss has encouraged students to partner with nearly the entire East High School community: the student body, school staff, community organizations and area businesses as well as other high schools within the Akron Public Schools and surrounding community.

Finally, the Young Entrepreneurs Award put them in touch with fellow student inventors and other people from across the entire nation. Weiss? holistic approach to his Tech Prep Engineering program and to his students clearly proves that the whole is equal to the sum of ALL of its parts.

Phyllis Bernel is the administrative secretary in the Office of Career Education for the Akron Public Schools in Akron, Ohio.