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‘Solve for Tomorrow’ contest launched by Samsung: Morgantown High was a national finalist last year

Contented, stable living through STEM?

Samsung Electronics America hopes so.

That’s because the Solve for Tomorrow contest has again clicked over for 2023.

Samsung launched the competition in 2010 as a way to encourage creative thinking and problem-solving in society, using the components of science, technology, engineering, and math — or STEM, as those core subjects are known by the blanket abbreviation.

Morgantown High School was one of 300 finalists nationwide during last year’s competition.

Solve for Tomorrow is open to all public high school and middle school students across the U.S. Over the years, its budding-futurist competitors have taken everything from school safety to emotional wellness.

A high school in Florida formulated an app geared to detect the onset of sport-related heat stroke on the playing field.

Another high school in Texas devised a monitoring system to help prevent the scourge of colony collapse in the bee population.

And another in Georgia created a monitoring system and accompanying app geared to reduce the prevalence of “night terrors” among veterans and others suffering from post-traumatic stress.

“We’re excited to witness the energy and creativity of our young participants, who represent the future,” said Ann Woo, who heads the Corporate Citizenship division at Samsung Electronics America.

Applications for the competition are being accepted through Oct. 27. Three national winners each earn a prize package worth $100,000.

Visit www.Samsung.com/solve for contest particulars.  

In the meantime, Monongalia County’s school district is embarking on a new venture in tech with its Renaissance Academy, a $72 million stand-alone STEM school it wants to have constructed and open to students by 2027.

“This is not ‘your grandfather’s vo-tech,’” John Chadwick said of the project.

Chadwick is an architect and former school administrator who works with DLR, the design firm that was awarded the contract for the academy.