West MI middle schoolers receive state Samsung prize
PIERSON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Students at Tri County Middle School are trying to tackle their school’s trash problem and they are getting some help from electronics company Samsung.
The class decided to apply for Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow STEM Competition with their idea of a trash can that rewards people for throwing away their garbage. They didn’t expect anything of it, but the class is now the winner in Michigan for the competition.
“Before this year, I didn’t know competitions like this existed, but we’re going to keep looking for competitions like this. It’s important because our students know that they can really do big things and they know that they can do things that sometimes push them outside of their comfort zone, but in doing those things, they’re learning from it every step of the way,” Christina Adamson, technology instructor at Tri County Middle School, said.
The students are now getting to use new gear from Samsung to help with their project. Each state winner gets a $12,000 package of technology from the company. The students are currently in the prototype stage of the project. They are trying to figure out the mechanisms inside the trash can to make it dispense tickets. Their idea is to have something inside of the can that will detect the weight of the garbage.
Elysia David is an 8th grader working on the project. She was the first person in the class to suggest a trash can when they were brainstorming ideas. David said she is thrilled to have their project get this far and hopes it will help make improvements at the school and maybe throughout the state.
“I’m very excited about it,” David said. “It will definitely help me in the future. I’m excited because when I’m older I want to code, so this definitely helps me a lot.”
The next step for the students is putting together a three-minute video showing off their invention. It is due in early March and they will hear later that month if they are in the top 10 nationally. If they are, the finalists get a $50,000 prize package and potentially receive a $100,000 prize package with technology and classroom supplies if they place in the top three.
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