Landon Pauls, a seventh grader at Ooltewah Middle School, was named as a finalist in the Ruckus Nation online competition sponsored by HopeLab. And he won a whopping $25,250.

His mother, Susan Pauls, said the contest was sponsored by HopeLab, a non-profit organization out of Redwood City, Calif. HopeLab's mission is to help fight diseases and chronic illnesses in adolescents.

In the fall of 2007, HopeLab created a worldwide competition called Ruckus Nation. The challenge of the contest was to come up with an idea to get middle school-aged kids moving and to fight childhood obesity, which is on the rise among middle school-aged children.

Mrs. Pauls said the contest was open to people all over the world in four age-related categories: 1. Middle School/Junior High 2. High School 3. College/University 4. Other (meaning any age, including adults).

Ruckus Nation had 429 entries from teams in 37 countries and 41 U.S. states.

Fifty-six semi-finalists were to be announced and each semi-finalist would get $250.

Mrs. Pauls said Landon was notified on Feb. 1 that he was a semi-finalist, earning $250. Three days later, after a conference call interview including a team from HopeLab, Landon was notified that he was a top 10 finalist and had won an additional $25,000.

Mrs. Pauls said, "We were not allowed to share that information with anyone, other than family, until the competition in San Francisco on Monday. It was difficult to keep it quiet, but we managed."

Landon and the other finalists traveled to San Francisco, with all expenses paid, last weekend to compete for the grand prize.

Landon, who was the youngest competitor, gave a PowerPoint presentation in front of a panel of judges from all over the world on Monday at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park.

Mrs. Pauls said Landon's entry was called the Go! Watch. It is a watch equipped with a pedometer that allows children to set their Go! Watch to get moving by selecting and monitoring running, jumping, walking, etc. The watch also allows kids to set a timer to remind them to get moving or to exercise for a certain period of time. When goals are met, the Go! Watch offers rewards like unlocking a game or a song. An associated website would also allow kids to link their Go! Watch online to earn more rewards and enhance their watches with additional features.

Stacy Cho, a 30-year-old teacher from Seattle, Wash., won the Grand Prize and an additional $50,000. She was the oldest competitor.

HopeLab will be developing some of the top 10 finalists ideas into real products, so you just might see the Go! Watch on the market, Mrs. Sauls noted.

Landon is the youngest of three children of Susan and Don Pauls of Chattanooga. He has an older sister, Meghan, who is a senior at Emory University, and a brother, Brian, who is a freshman at Tennessee Tech.

Landon said, "Ruckus Nation made me realize that being overweight is a bigger problem than some kids actually think. They think they can just stay in and play video games and watch television and get on computers – that they’re going to stay healthy and live a good life.

"They like technology, and I thought that it would be cool to have a device that had technology, rewards and exercise put into it. I love thinking of ideas and thinking outside the box, and I thought it’d be cool helping kids my age."

As to what he plans to do with the prize money, he said, "I thought I’d give some money to my youth group at church so we can have more props to do more physical activities and play games, because that’s what we really look forward to during the youth group.

"And I’d like to give some money to some kids’ groups in our community so they can have more physical activities too. Then I’m going to put the rest toward college, and I think I may buy a new iPod."

Landon plays baseball, basketball and soccer. He is active in the youth group at Christ United Methodist.