The large conference room inside the Berks County Intermediate Unit in Muhlenberg Township was teaming with activity Wednesday morning.
From down the hall, far before the doors leading into the space, the sound of excited, chattering kids filled the air.
Inside the room, row after row after row of long tables were filled with chunks of cardboard, cut up construction paper, bottles of glue and rolls of tape. And those noisy students sat behind those tables, brainstorming and problem-solving and creating.
The BCIU hosted a local edition of the 2026 Pennsylvania Keystone Competition, one of more than a dozen held simultaneously across the state Wednesday.
The Pennsylvania Keystone Competition is a one-day statewide STEM challenge that aims to engage students in fifth through eighth grades in problem-solving activities.
Thirty-five local teams of fifth through eighth graders took part in the 2026 Pennsylvania Keystone Challenge regional competition held Wednesday at the Berks County Intermediate Unit. (DAVID MEKEEL – READING EAGLE)
Teams of students are presented with a real-world challenge — develop an innovative solution and present it “Shark Tank” style. A total of 35 teams took part in the BCIU challenge.
“It’s having them get out of their comfort zone,” Jillian Darlington, BCIU assistant program administrator, said of the competition. “They came here today completely unaware of the challenge or what materials they’d be working with.”
This year’s challenge, presented via a webcast by Dr. Carrie Rowe, state education secretary, was to reimagine Pennsylvania’s state parks.
Students were tasked with coming up with an innovative change to improve a single park or the park system.
A team from the Boyertown School District decided to try to help people navigate parks. Their prototype was a phone app similar to Waze that shows you where you are in the park, points out various attractions and allows visitors to report problems.
“It will allow for better sightseeing,” said Jordan Krause, 13, an eighth grader at Boyertown Middle School East.
Matthew Fox, 13, left, and Jordan Krause, 13, eighth graders at Boyertown Middle School East, work on their project during the 2026 Pennsylvania Keystone Competition held at the Berks County Intermediate Unit on Wednesday. (DAVID MEKEEL – READING EAGLE)
Krause said he was a little nervous heading into the competition, not knowing exactly what to expect.
“It was kind of a struggle for us at first to come up with an idea,” he admitted. “But we figured it out.”
His teammate, Matthew Foy, said he was excited with the opportunity to create.
“I like the building part, that’s probably my favorite thing,” the 13-year-old Boyertown Middle School East eighth grader said.
Sitting just behind the Boyertown team, a team from Daniel Boone Middle School was working on its creation — a filter that pulls trash out of streams and rivers.
Their prototype included a fish ladder that allowed fish to avoid the filter.
“We didn’t want them going through here and getting stuck,” said Archer Kemp, 12, a seventh grader.
Daniel Boone Middle School students (from left) Jackson Ruf, 12, seventh grade, Archer Kemp, 12, seventh grade, and Jameson De La Torre, 12, seventh grade, brainstorm while working on their project during the 2026 Pennsylvania Keystone Competition held at the Berks County Intermediate Unit on Wednesday. (DAVID MEKEEL – READING EAGLE)
Jameson De La Torre, 12, a seventh grader, said the idea for the project came from his experience at a park near his home that often has trash in the water.
Kemp said his team’s project helps fix those kinds of issues.
“We don’t want trash all in the water,” he said. “And with this it does two things: It makes it look good, and it’s better for wildlife.
“It’s a win-win.”
A team from Exeter School District’s Reiffton School also looked to tackle trash.
They created a machine called the “Eco Weave” that converts trash into micro fibers that can be weaved into fabric.
The team members said they were having a great time competing.
“I liked that it was a surprise,” Amely Alvarado, 11, a fifth grader, said.
Devin Lichten, 11, a fifth grader, said she enjoyed getting a chance to innovate and create.
“It’s just fun building stuff,” she said.