by Garth Meyer
RUHS freshman Nathaniel Wellen will appear Friday night on “Shark Tank” on ABC at 8 p.m.
The latest stop in his journey with his dual-handle umbrella invention, he first competed at the Redondo Beach Unified School District “Invention Convention” in 2021-22 for middle school.
Advancing to subsequent levels, Wellen made it to nationals where he took second place, and won the “Originality Award,” out of 144,000 participants nationwide.
Wellen’s second-place finish got him an invitation to compete at Internationals. Along the way, he was granted a patent for the dual-handle umbrella.
“We will be cheering on Nathaniel as he faces the Sharks,” said Mike Soo, business, entrepreneurship and finance teacher at RBUSD. “(We are) proud of Nathaniel’s achievement and the district’s commitment to fostering innovation and creativity among students. We wish Nathaniel the best of luck and look forward to seeing his invention make a lasting impact.”
Katherine Wellen, a student at Parras Middle School, also appears with her brother on the “Shark Tank” episode.
Invention Convention is a worldwide organization promoting invention and entrepreneurship for youth. RBUSD has participated in the program for the past three years, its next local event is Feb. 20-23.
One winner from every grade at each Redondo Beach school is chosen to compete at the state southern region Invention Convention. ER
