{"id":27338,"date":"2019-03-22T15:44:34","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T19:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage-web-alb-2136653291.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com\/us\/?p=27338"},"modified":"2023-06-20T13:21:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T17:21:12","slug":"top-three-tips-for-winning-solve-for-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/top-three-tips-for-winning-solve-for-tomorrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Three Tips for Winning Solve for Tomorrow"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Samsung<\/a>

The 2018 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest national finalist teama and their teachers on set at Good Morning America in New York City, April 2018, after the winner\u2019s announcement.<\/p><\/div>\n

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How can a student scientist get over stage fright? That\u2019s the pressing question facing 10 national finalist teams<\/a> of public school students traveling to New York City on April 1 to pitch their unique STEM ideas to a panel of judges (and a big audience), as Samsung\u2019s 2019 Solve for Tomorrow<\/a> contest heads into the home stretch.<\/p>\n

Stakes are high. After hearing the students\u2019 all-important presentations, the judges will select just three teams as grand-prize winners of the contest that challenges public middle and high schoolers to use science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to solve a problem in their community, sending each of those three teams home with $100,000 in Samsung technology and supplies for their schools.<\/p>\n\n

The path from national finalist to grand-prize winner isn\u2019t easy. Here to help with their best advice are teachers and students who guided past Solve for Tomorrow championship teams.<\/p>\n

1. Practice, practice, practice.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cMemorize your script\u2026 then throw it away,\u201d advises STEM teacher Michael Eilertsen, whose middle school team from Snowflake Junior High School, in Snowflake, Arizona, won the 2017 Solve for Tomorrow contest with a low-cost wildlife detection system<\/a> to alert oncoming traffic to nearby animals and reduce the number of fatal collisions. \u201cPreparation and practice are the keys to getting students ready to speak in front of a large audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"Snowflake<\/a>

Dylan N., of Snowflake Junior High School, in Snowflake, AZ., makes his team\u2019s final pitch to a panel of judges before nabbing one of the Solve for Tomorrow STEM contest grand prizes, Washington, DC, April 2017.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Eilertsen gave his students many opportunities to get comfortable with discussing their project, answering questions on the spot and presenting in a more formal setting. Manning a booth at a local science fair and pitching their idea to the local school board helped hone his students\u2019 public-speaking skills. He advised his students to focus on just one person at a time during the pitch, to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the crowd.<\/p>\n

Another Solve for Tomorrow alumni teacher had his students craft a five-minute pitch script, then relentlessly practice and refine it until they were finally at ease with their presentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresenting to different audiences and to a large group, like the student body, can also help alleviate any anxiety,\u201d said Justin Reinmuth, electronics teacher at Gering High School, in Gering, Nebraska, whose team designed a drone-powered spraying system<\/a> to reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides on crops by way of precise targeting. Reinmuth\u2019s students were named Solve for Tomorrow National Finalists two years in a row and clinched the Grand Prize in the 2017 competition.<\/p>\n

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\"Solve<\/a>

Justin Reinmuth\u2019s students, Payton W. (left) and Eric C., show off their Solve for Tomorrow winning idea at the Samsung Developer Conference in San Francisco in 2017.<\/p><\/div>\n

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For those times that practicing out loud isn\u2019t an option, a handy set of notes can reinforce preparation and quell nerves, according to Maureen Pollitz, gifted-student teacher at Nicholson Elementary School, in Picayune, Mississippi, whose team of sixth graders won a grand prize in the 2015 Solve for Tomorrow contest for designing a robot to fix obstructed storm drains and prevent flooding<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe created a booklet on the process for the students to review on the airplane to New York when they became nervous,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\"Lawrence<\/a>

Anna L. (center, with microphone) and Kaydee H. (second from right) make their final pitch to the 2015 Solve for Tomorrow judges that named them grand prize winners in the contest, New York City, 2015. (Photo Courtesy of Maureen Pollitz)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Rachel R., one of Reinmuth\u2019s students who pitched her Gering High School team\u2019s National Finalist project to the 2018 Solve for Tomorrow judges, said preparation and practice are essential to a great presentation, and so is self-confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve made it this far,\u201d Rachel said. \u201cYou\u2019re prepared. You know what you\u2019re doing. So be confident in yourself, and relax. It helps your sentences flow better and makes what you\u2019re saying sound more conversational.”<\/p>\n

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\"Gering,<\/a>

Rachel R., left, makes her team\u2019s final pitch to a panel of judges with fellow Gering High School teammate Kenny W., right, in the 2018 Solve for Tomorrow STEM contest. They were 2018 national finalists, following on the grand-prize win for the 2017 Gering High School Solve for Tomorrow team.<\/p><\/div>\n

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2. Communicate Passionately.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Pollitz, of Picayune, MS, said her students communicated powerfully about their project by demonstrating to the judges exactly how important their solution was to them and to their community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt amazes me the enthusiasm and passion my students had for the project and the legacy they left behind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Eilertsen, of Snowflake, AZ, said great communication starts with an interesting hook that catches the audience\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen explain the problem in a personal way that has some heart, and show how your project effectively helps solve the problem,\u201d he advised.<\/p>\n

3. Enjoy the Ride.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHave a great time! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,\u201d said Reinmuth, of Gering, NE, and Eilertsen agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink of the final pitch event as a party for the best in the nation,\u201d he said. \u201cYour school is already a winner. Don\u2019t forget to smile and have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

A past national finalist herself, Rachel R. had some practical advice to share with this year\u2019s talented 10 teams as they prepare to head to New York to spend so much time with so many strangers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake friends on the first night,\u201d Rachel said. \u201cThe pitch event is so much more fun if you get to know the other competitors. Then soak up the culture<\/a> while you can. The week goes fast, and it\u2019s hard to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

No matter what the trip holds for the 2019 national finalists, it\u2019s going to be unforgettable, said Pollitz.<\/p>\n

\u201cSolve for Tomorrow was an unforgettable experience that my students and I will always treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"Nicholson<\/a>

Anna L., left, and Kaydee H., right, of Nicholson Elementary School, in Picayune, MS, at the final pitch event in the 2015 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest, where their team\u2019s STEM idea, a robot that fixes broken storm drains to reduce local flooding, won a grand prize, New York City, 2015. (Photo Courtesy of Maureen Pollitz)<\/p><\/div>\n

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How can a student scientist get over stage fright? That\u2019s the pressing question facing 10 national finalist teams of public school students traveling to New York City on April 1 to pitch their unique STEM ideas to a panel of judges (and a big audience), as Samsung\u2019s 2019 Solve for Tomorrow contest heads into the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":27873,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29719,17563],"tags":[34,832,730,35],"blue-badge":[],"class_list":["post-27338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corporate","category-corporate-education","tag-education","tag-public-affairs","tag-solve-for-tomorrow-sft","tag-stem"],"acf":{"turn_off_retargeting":false},"fimg_mobile_url":"https:\/\/img.us.news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/14102552\/anna-and-kaydee1.jpg","fimg_url":"https:\/\/img.us.news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/14102552\/anna-and-kaydee1.jpg","primary_category":{"term_id":29719,"name":"Corporate","slug":"corporate","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":29719,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1026,"filter":"raw","term_link":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/category\/corporate\/","term_path":"corporate"},"badge":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27338"},{"taxonomy":"blue-badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blue-badge?post=27338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}