Ever wondered what to do with your dog's slobber? Pieter B. Coeymans fourth-grader Johnny Orsino did, and he's been chosen as a semi-finalist in the Capital District Invention Convention for coming up with a solution. Johnny invented the Slobber Bowl, designed to catch a dog's drool.

Johnny is part of the REACH group taught by Kathy Baumgras. Fourth-grade REACH students studied inventors and inventions throughout history. Then they came up with a problem that needed solving. Johnny’s problem was that his dog drooled on his bed, so he designed this device that attaches to the dog’s muzzle to catch the dog’s drool while it sleeps.

The Invention Convention 2009 is a statewide invention education program for public and private school students. The goal is to stimulate the development of students' creativity and imaginations, thereby building a new generation of American inventors. Johnny Orsino is one of 100 students who were invited to make models of their inventions, an exercise involving imagination, artistic and scientific skills. The models of the selected inventions will be on display from May 2 until May 28, 2009, at the Schenectady Museum and Suits-Bueche Planetarium. Twenty-five inventions will be selected as finalists by a panel of judges. The finalists will be announced at the Invention Convention 2009 regional ceremony on May 28, 2009 at the Schenectady Museum and Suits-Bueche Planetarium. The 25 finalists will also be invited to a special reception for finalists from each of the four regions of New York State.