Eniola Shokunbi: Early Reader Edition

Eniola ShokunbiPhoto courtesy of Eniola Shokunbi

Eniola Shokunbi never really liked science or technology much. Her one clear goal since she was very young was to become the first African American Woman President of the United States.[1] This meant that she loved anything to do with the White House, President, or US politics. So, when one of her friends brought in an article about a new type of air cleaner being installed in the White House, Eniola wanted to find out more.

In 2019, when Eniola was eight years old, a sickness called COVID-19 spread across the world. COVID-19 was spread through the air, so scientists started looking at how to make the air inside cleaner. Lots of people in the U.S. started buying machines that cleaned the air on their houses.[2]

Those machines often cost a lot of money. Two engineers, Richard Corsi and Jim Rosenthal, decided to make a cheaper machine: the Corsi-Rosenthal box, made from cardboard, four HVAC filters, and duct tape.[3]

Eniola heard about the Corsi-Rosenthal box and wanted to make one for her classroom at school. She wrote a letter to Marina Creed, Director of the Indoor Air Quality Initiative at the University of Connecticut, asking for help. Marina sent Shokunbi instructions on how to build the box, and offered to send a group of scientists from the university to help the class construct their own filter![4]

The first air purifier made by Eniola and her classmates made to look like their school mascot – an owl – and was decorated with brightly colored wings, big round eyes, and a beak. They named it “Owl Force One.”[5] They then made enough filters to have one in every single classroom in their school.

Photo courtesy of Eniola ShokunbiEniola decorates one of the C-R air filters.

Owl Force One was tested by the Environmental Protection Agency in North Carolina,[6] and they found that it cleaned ninety-nine percent of the germs out of the air! In October 2024, the Connecticut State Bond Commission voted to give $11.5 million to have the filters installed in classrooms in schools across the state.[7]

Now, Eniola wants to keep the air in classrooms clean across the entire US. Not only does she want the filters installed, but she wants the children in the classrooms to do the installing. On her site, she explains

My goal is to take this initiative nationwide. A key component of my mission is to involve students directly in the process by having them build the air filter boxes themselves.[8]

Eniola also wants girls to get involved in science. “We [girls] have so much potential,” she said, “and believing in ourselves and taking thefirst step is the way that we can start our journey. I want to be the light that guides them there.”

Eniola Shokunbi is a true inspiration. She is using science to make people’s lives better, across the United States.

Explore Eniola Shokunbi’s website here.

Read a more advanced version of this story here.

[1] NewsNation. Hometown hero: Student designs air filters for classrooms | Morning in America [Online] Available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeZ6HP78uTs. 2024.

[2] McLaughlin, Liz. EPA testing DIY air purifier built by fifth graders. [Online] Available https://www.wral.com/story/epa-testing-diy-air-purifier-built-by-fifth-graders/20975023/. 2023.

[3] Ibid.

[4] NewsNation, 2024.

[5] McLaughlin, 2023.

[6] Boyo, Sydney. Middle schooler leads $11.5 million project to build air filters for schools [Online] Available https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/middle-schooler-leads-11-5-million-project-build-air-filters-schools/3415312/. 2024.

[7] Boyo, 2024.

[8] https://eniolashokunbi.com/