Despite being an Apple-oriented school, North High has the opportunity to win up to $100,000 in Samsung products and classroom resources.

A while back, Dr. Holtzman forwarded an email to Ms. York about the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest. Every year, Samsung hosts a competition that encourages students to use STEM-based skills to approach issues their communities may face.

“After visiting the link to see what the contest was about, I forwarded a blurb to all of the science teachers and asked them to post the message to their Google Classrooms so that I could gauge interest,” Ms. York said.  

Within a few days, Ms. York was notified by the other science teachers that some eager students wanted to participate in the contest.

“When I saw that 12 students had signed up for the new Google Classroom, I figured we had the interest we needed to get the ball rolling,” Ms. York stated.

Thus, Ms. York immediately scheduled some meeting dates and times. 

“I have never supported student participation in a contest like this, so this is an experiment for all of us,” Ms. York stated. “I am excited by the idea of working with young people and supporting them in forwarding a design that could positively impact the community.”

Junior Nicole Yeroushalmi, one of the 12 students who signed up for the contest, expressed her excitement to compete. 

“I’m really excited about this competition, and I hope we can find success,” Yeroushalmi said. “It’s a great opportunity to explore technology and try to help society.”

Participation is highly encouraged, and it’s not too late to join. If you are interested, please reach out to Ms. York.

Ms. York explained the requirements to participate in this challenge. 

“Part of the application process, for the first round, is for students to identify the challenge they wish to tackle and then provide some ideas about how they would solve it,” Ms. York said, “There is also an emphasis on sustainability of the concept.”

In the past, many national winners have discovered countless solutions to their original problem. 

This process is not as simple as it seems, as it requires a considerate amount of thoughtful work and much attention to detail.

“If our application is not chosen, then I will continue to work with the students if they want,” Ms. York said. “Perhaps we can hone in on an idea for next year.”

“After seeing the project other students have done to improve their community, I know this is my thing,” senior Shenqi Cui expressed. “I wanted to apply my knowledge in the STEM field in real life to impact our community in a positive way.” 

Not only can our school have an additional $100,000 in Samsung products, but more importantly, students can learn to work together to solve a challenge from scratch.