Students from Glendon School are set to start work on a project that will benefit their community and possibly lead to a $50,000 technology grant.
The school was named as one of 55 semi-finalists in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge, which empowers students to put their minds together and solve a problem currently hindering their community.
Teacher Coralee Forster submitted an initial application to the challenge, feeling the project would be a good task for her students to help out the Village of Glendon.
The problem indentified by Forster stems from the economic struggles the region is facing due to the historically low price of oil.
“A lot of the families here have lost the main job in their family and we noticed we were getting kids who were coming to school a little more hungry than usual,” said Forster. “So we are going to think about how we can help with this situation.”
The main goal of the project is for the students to do most of the work in taking a problem and coming up with solutions. The students are encouraged to apply their skills using science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to solve an everyday problem facing their community.
“We've been impressed by both the variety and creativity of schools' STEM-based solutions to solve their local community issues,” said Mark Childs, Chief Brand Officer with Samsung Electronics Canada.
Childs added, “From an anti-bullying app seeing students home safely, to an anti-freeze plumbing solution for Canadian winters, these are tangible, real world innovations that are wholly inspired by STEM. We can't wait to see how students bring these projects to life to benefit their communities across Canada.”
Glendon School has already been in contact with the Village of Glendon, who has been supportive and is expected to get involved with the project.
Students at 55 schools across the country have been sent Samsung media packages with a variety of equipment. The task in front of the students is to create a three-minute video capturing the process they went through to solve the local problem.
“They need to look at the problem, look at possible solutions and it is up to them to find solutions and partnerships in the community to make a difference,” said Forster. “The students will be using the media package, filming some of the process, filming some interviews and then we are going to submit that.”
With exams currently in progress, the class of students spearheading the Glendon project has yet to be identified. Students will be given more information and start tackling the project starting Feb. 1 when a new school semester begins.
“The students will be using the media package, filming some of the process, filming some interviews and then we are going to submit that.”
Principal Janice Muench is also excited about the project, feeling that it is going to rally students together and see them make a positive impact in the village.
“One of our goals is about building teams and working closely with our community stakeholders, we are just excited about the possibility of what this could mean to the entire community,” said Muench.
Eleven of the 55 schools will be selected as prize-winning finalists and be awarded $20,000 in new classroom technology. Those schools will then move on to compete in a final phase in the spring of 2016, where two grand prizes of $50,000 in technology is on the line.
