OLD TOWN – Seventh-grader Dacie Manion won the Leonard Middle School Invention Fair on March 30, and placed first among seventh-graders at the State Invention Fair on April 29.

Her invention project was called the Dinghy Doggy Ramp.

The invention included patent research, a business plan, construction directions, a marketing plan, several advertisements, a financial plan, graphs, a scale diagram, a model and a professional presentation.

This spring, Manion placed first in her division at the state gymnastics meet – the day after the State Invention Fair – and placed second in the regional New England competition.

As a sixth-grader, Manion earned third place in the Leonard Middle School science fair in the physical sciences category and earned an award at the state level.

Manion has undertaken independent study in Algebra I this year, supported by her teachers.

She has mastered roughly double the topics usually studied in the eighth grade accelerated math class, and is well on her way through the algebra concepts studied in ninth grade.

She plans to continue her studies over the summer because she enjoys the “puzzles.”

Manion is a member of the Middle School Jazz Band – state champions for each of the past 13 years, a member of the Symphonic Band and Concert Band.

She plays trombone, and is taking private lessons to supplement her band work at school.