CharlotteObserver.com and Inventors Digest magazine, which is based in Charlotte, teamed up on an essay contest to mark National Inventor's Month. Here is the middle school winner in the Carolinas:

Justin Williams, 13, of Southwest Middle School in Charlotte, won an iPod Nano by topping the Carolinas middle school division with his idea of a networked school desk and at-home tablet.His essay:

Desktop Computers and At-Home Tablets

By Justin Williams

By 2059, our schools will be modernized with many different kinds of inventions to improve the way teachers educate students. Today, schools waste 695,691,200 sheets of paper a year. That’s a lot of paper.

Another problem is when teachers instruct students to bring their textbooks and notebooks to school and students misplace them. Textbooks have a high economic value, and notebooks have an extremely high sentimental value.

It is worse when a notebook is lost because it contains all of your notes that are personalized so you can understand them. Losing a notebook can also cost a student’s grade. I will explain how my idea will revolutionize the way teachers teach around the world.

Imagine when you walk into a classroom, you sit in a desk without a notebook, a textbook or even a pencil or pen. Well by 2059, it will be a reality.

Students will walk into classrooms looking “unprepared,” as teachers would say today. All school supplies will be obsolete. You are probably wondering what invention can eliminate school supplies.

My invention is literally a desktop computer. It is a desk with a built-in computer. With my invention, students will be able to do many tasks, such as take notes or even upload and personalize pre-made notes from the teacher. Students will be able to take tests and do projects on the desk.

More than one program will be able to open at the same time, such as a textbook and a notebook because of the screen’s large size. A teacher can tell you to solve a problem on the board without getting out of your seat. All you do is use your stylus to solve the problem.

The whole class can also see your work along with the teacher. The desk will be compatible with many other applications and programs. The notes that were taken will be able to be saved under the students’ ID and uploaded after class to the other part of my invention – the at-home tablet.

The at-home tablet will be like a laptop, but it will have two screens and no keyboard. It will allow multitasking. The device will be touch-screen. Teachers will send students digital worksheets, documents and educational games. Unlike laptops, the table will have a built-in wireless wide area card network (WWAN) connection to the Internet like many cell phones.

My plan is that every country will have their own network for their schools. Students will connect to their country’s network through another country’s network so students could have access to the Internet everywhere they go. The tablet will have a camera and microphone so if you are sick or on vacation, you can still attend and participate in school. This tablet also will be compatible with many apps and software.

My invention will dramatically reduced the amount of paper we use and change the way we educate students around the world.