Lots of kids these days have fantasies about getting jobs as video game testers or game company consultant. That far-fetched scenario has come true for Erica Borsack of West Windsor, a winner in the Wild Planet Kid Inventor Challenge. A fifth grader at Millstone River School, Erica designed a lighted dice and was selected to be on the Wild Planet Kid Inventor Team and work as a consultant to Wild Planet Toys for one year. Each month she will receive a new Wild Planet toy to review.
“Light Dice was something I thought would be good for camp,” says Erica, “for times when dice fall on the floor or on the side and we can’t tell what number it was.” The die is numbered one to six and each side is a different color. The lights flash for 15 seconds and when the lights stop, that side is the winner. It comes with a carrying case — like a pencil case. The die shows a green light when it is plugged in and charging.
Erica has already received a prize package of Wild Planet toys. “The box arrived when I had a half day at school,” says Erica. “I was so excited I just ripped it open.” The box contained a Night Spy Listener, a case of nine Aqua Pets, and spy and code cracking stuff.
Erica, who celebrates her 11th birthday on May 25, has always been industrious. In kindergarten, she won first place in New Jersey for the Reading Rainbow Youth Author and Illustrator’s Contest for her book, “Erica’s Applesauce.” In first grade she took first place in Princeton Medical Center’s “What is a Nurse?” essay contest. In second and third grades she designed and sold rubberband jewel rings on consignment at Learning Express. This year she started a bookclub at Millstone River School. She is also a member of Girl Scout Troop 1577, plays flute in the band, and is on a travel soccer team.
Erica has lived in West Windsor for nine years. Her mother, Charlene Borsack, is the awards coordinator at Princeton University Press. Her father, Scott, is a lawyer at Szaferman Lakind on Grovers Mill Road. Her brother David, 14, is in eighth grade at Grover Middle School.
