75 Schools Awarded in Samsung’s $2 Million National STEM Competition

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. today announced the 75 Semi-Finalists in the 11^th annual $2 million* Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, a nationwide education competition that challenges 6-12^th grade students and their teachers to creatively use STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills to address a community challenge. The competition fosters critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills among thousands of students across the country as they solve current issues of national importance in their local communities.

Public school teachers nationwide submitted proposals outlining a local challenge, as well as how students will use STEM to address the problem, the solution idea they will build, and the potential impact on the community. Semi-Finalists have been recognized for their creative and strategic proposals to solve current problems such as food insecurity, human trafficking and water quality. Each Semi-Finalist school – spanning rural and urban areas – will receive $15,000 to be redeemed on DonorsChoose.org as well as a Samsung Galaxy Note20 to execute their project this school year, whether they are engaging in a virtual, in-person or hybrid teaching environment.

“Students and teachers across the country, regardless of classroom format, are rising to the occasion to creatively use STEM to address some of the greatest issues impacting their generation, from social justice, to pandemic-related solutions,” said Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Electronics America. “These students are facing unchartered challenges with stoic determination and using creative problem-solving skills to succeed. We are proud to unveil the schools in this year’s Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest and look forward to seeing their proposed solutions and innovations come to life.”

In addition to receiving $15,000 to be redeemed on DonorsChoose.org and a Samsung Galaxy Note20, each Semi-Finalist school will record a video to showcase their project and has the potential to advance through future phases of the contest to win additional prizes and educational opportunities. The remaining phases of the competition include:

• 10 National Finalist schools will be selected later this spring to participate in the virtual pitch event where they will present their project to a panel of judges. For achieving National Finalist status, seven of these schools will be awarded $65,000 in technology and classroom materials while the remaining three will be named National Winners.
  • Public voting will also determine two Community Choice winners from the pool of National Finalists, who will be eligible to win an additional $15,000 in Samsung technology.
• Three National Winner schools will each receive the grand prize of $130,000 in classroom technology and supplies for their achievement.

Samsung has increased the prize value for Semi-Finalist, National Finalist and National Winner schools**. This year, Samsung has also recognized 25 schools as Honorable Mention recipients for the strong promise their ideas showed. Each Honorable Mention school will receive a Samsung Galaxy Note20.

Aligned with Samsung’s guiding vision of ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People’, Solve for Tomorrow was created in 2010 to encourage innovative thinking, creative problem-solving and teamwork to address the most pressing issues impacting society. Today, the competition is anchored in problem-based learning, fostering critical thinking and creative problem solving. For the past decade, Samsung has awarded $18 million in technology and classroom materials to more than 2,500 public schools in the United States.

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

*$2 million prize is based on an estimated retail value.

**Prize pools have been increased from: $10,000 to $15,000 for Semi-Finalists, $50,000 to $65,000 for National Finalists and $100,000 to $130,000 for National Winner schools. Community choice winner prizes will increase from $10,000 to $15,000 and will be awarded to two National Finalist schools.