Are you a high school student ready to steer the world to a better place through STEM?
Are you a high school teacher thinking the same, for the students you see daily?
Samsung Electronics America hopes so, for both of the above.
That’s why the technology conglomerate is extending the application for its Solve for Tomorrow contest though Nov. 14.
Samsung launched the national competition in 2010, with a goal of getting young people thinking about what they can do for the future society they’ll inhabit – as professionals, policy makers and parents.
The mission?
Putting their creative thinking and problem-solving skills to task, with technology as the foundation.
Which means using the components of science, technology, engineering and math — STEM – to use for real-world problem solving.
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 on 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.
Three national winners will 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.
