50 Schools Nationwide Named State Winners in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J. – January 3, 2019 – Samsung Electronics America, Inc. today announced the 50* state winners in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest – a nationwide competition that challenges students to inspire change in their local communities by developing solutions to complex issues using STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills. Each state winner will receive $20,000 in technology and will advance in the next phase of the contest to compete for additional prizes and educational opportunities.

Selected from thousands of entries nationwide, teachers submitted detailed lesson plans illustrating how they plan to develop and execute their projects over the coming months. This year classrooms identified issues that are unique to their communities – such as contaminated water, emergency relief in the face of natural disasters, and access to proper food and resources – as well as critical societal issues that are impacting classrooms nationwide, such as the topics of mental health, school shootings, vaping, bullying, homelessness, and veteran care.

“The scale and importance of the issues addressed in this year’s contest reflect how students are taking responsibility for their role as change agents for the future,” said Ann Woo, senior director of corporate citizenship, Samsung Electronics America. “These state winners and trailblazing teachers and students are taking action to create tangible solutions and promote positive change. Samsung is proud to support their vision for a brighter future and looks forward to seeing how they will use imagination and creativity with complex technologies such as VR and 3D printing to bring these projects to life.”

The state winners will now use their new Samsung video kit prize package to submit a three-minute video that showcases their project from planning to execution, while demonstrating its application to solve the identified issue.

Schools have until February to work on their projects and submit their video in hopes of advancing in the contest to proceed through the following remaining phases:

• 10 national finalists will be selected to travel to the National Finalist Pitch Event in the spring to present their project to a panel of judges. For achieving national finalist status, seven of these schools will receive a $50,000 Samsung technology package while the remaining three will be named national grand prize winners.
• The three national grand prize winners will receive $100,000 in classroom technology and supplies.
• The general public will elect one Community Choice winner from the pool of national finalists who will be eligible to win an additional $10,000 in Samsung technology.

The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest was created to encourage innovation among young students while addressing the technology gap in classrooms across the country. Since its inception in 2010, the contest has provided more than $23 million in technology to more than 1,700 schools nationwide.

For a full list of state winner schools, please visit www.samsung.com/solve or follow on Instagram @SolveForTomorrow. For official rules and judging criteria, click here.

*Includes all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Schools from Maryland and Washington, D.C. were eligible for the Maryland/D.C. State Winner award.

**A previous version of this press release incorrectly stated the contest began in 2009.