Just a reminder: Today is the final day to vote in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Grant Competition. As I type, Schoharie High School is in the lead with 98159 votes. Vote by midnight tonight to help Schoharie students win! Our original Feb. 9 story about the contest is below. -- Julia Reischel
Schoharie High School is one of 12 finalists in a nationwide contest sponsored by Samsung. Just by being in the top twelve for the "Samsung Solve for Tomorrow" contest, the school will receive a prize -- but the size of the prize depends on how many votes it gets from the public between now and midnight on March 12.
At the moment I write this, the Schoharie students are in second place with 1661 votes, trailing only Sutter Middle School in Folsom, California, which has 1746 votes. (To vote for Schoharie, go to the contest page and click the "Vote" button under the Schoharie video.)
All of the contest's finalists have produced videos describing "how science and math can improve the environment in their community." The students in Schoharie, which was devastated by Tropical Storm Irene last August, documented their work helping Schoharie Valley recover from the ravages of flooding.
Working with Cornell Cooperative Extension, the students tested and analyzed soil on Schoharie valley farms for contaminants, nutrients, and pH values in the aftermath of the flood. You can see their whole video at the top of this post.
The top prize is school-based technology equipment worth $110,000 -- software from Adobe, Microsoft, merchandise from Samsung, service from DirectTV, and a specially-trained dog that will assist in the classroom. Oh, and a trip for four to a prize ceremony.
Linda Salamone, the Director of Curriculum and PPS at the Schoharie Central School District, wrote on our Facebook wall yesterday that Schoharie supporters should vote early and often:
Schoharie Central School District Needs Your Vote!
We are finalists in a Samsung technology grant. These funds would help us greatly in this time of great financial need as we recover from the flooding resulting from Hurricane Irene. Confirm your email once and you can vote daily until March 12, 2012. The students used the flooding of Schoharie Valley as the topic of the video they created. The video can be viewed and voted on by clicking on this link. https://pages.samsung.com/us/sft/video/index.jsp#top. Please share this link with friends and family, or any organization you know that may want to help us.
Here's the info from the Schoharie Central School District's website:
Schoharie Central is now one of twelve in Samsung "Solve for Tomorrow" Grant Competition The Schoharie Central School District has advanced to the final round in a grant competition for its effort with Samsung to video document the recent flood damage from a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) standpoint. In addition to selection of four grand prize winners in the grant competition, the final phase involves competition, by voting, for a "People's Choice" winner (separate from the judging by Samsung and its partner corporations and organizations). Voting for the project that best demonstrates how STEM can help the community began on Feb. 6 on Samsung's website and Facebook page. Please take the time to view the videos and vote to support our students! Click here to link to the Samsung website to VOTE! (You may vote once per day per email address, through March 12, and must be at least 13 years old.) Our school can win computer and audiovisual technology that's worth $100,000, a trip to the winner announcement ceremony and a classroom assistance dog. Thank you for your support!
