Marco James' Blogger: The Samsung “Solve for Tomorrow” STEAM Program Wants You! Take Just 5 Minutes to Apply!

Sponsored by Samsung “Solve for Tomorrow”

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

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The Samsung “Solve For Tomorrow” program is still accepting applications—and applying takes only five minutes! This contest is open to U.S. public school teachers for grades 6-12. Your application won’t require a lesson plan or anything detailed, but you have to enter by November 9^th to be eligible to participate. All you need is one creative solution for a problem in your community to get started.

This blog post is sponsored by “Samsung Solve for Tomorrow.” All opinions are my own.

This five-minute application (the first round of entering the Samsung “Solve For Tomorrow” program) just requires a simple idea and few details about you and your school. The five best ideas in each state will be selected (and will win a Samsung Chromebook), and those 255 state finalists will then be asked to develop a lesson plan.

Remember, these are STEAM ideas. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. While one project doesn’t have to be all five, this project is bridging the gap between technology and creativity!

Refer Your Friends to Enter

To make this opportunity as widely available as possible, the contest encourages referrals. For referring a public school teacher, you will be entered for a chance to win.

Prizes in the referral program

Five (5) referral prize winners will be selected. Each referral winner may select one (1) of the prize options listed below (all items based on availability):

Prize Option #1: Samsung Note 8. ARV $824.99 each. No carrier connections or fees included.
Prize Option #2: Samsung 65” TV. ARV $1,599.99 each.

The 2017 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow event was celebrated in Washington DC in April. Consider applying for a chance for your students to enter to win!

How to enter the referral program

(see the full rules):

During the Sweepstakes Period and during the Samsung® “Solve for Tomorrow” 2018 Education Contest registration period (starting at 12:00:01 p.m. ET on Thursday, September 14, 2017 and ending at 11:59:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, November 9, 2017), share the Contest with other educators by directing them to www.Samsung.com/SolveforTomorrow to apply and complete the referral fields with all required information on the registration form. Referrals may come from you, other teachers, administrators, or faculty members. Be sure the person you refer enters your full name and school when they register.

What is Solve for Tomorrow?

I’ve blogged about the Samsung “Solve For Tomorrow” program before. Teachers and students are invited to come up with a STEAM solution for a problem in their community. Their school can win the tools and resources necessary to help that dream become reality.

One of the past winners that really captured my imagination was a group of students who wanted to help a veteran. This veteran was unhappy with his prosthetic and how it felt. So the students invited him to their school, interviewed him, and—using 3D software and a 3D printer—designed a better fitting prosthetic for him. This is the kind of positive change that “Solve for Tomorrow” has inspired. And your students are creative and forward-thinking enough to come up with so many more ideas.

We talk about social entrepreneurship all the time. We talk about doing meaningful work in our classrooms. Now, here’s your chance.

Take some time for this today. Talk to your students about this program and get them to brainstorm ideas about making their community a better place. (What kid doesn’t have a hundred ideas like that?) Reach an agreement on the best idea, write it up, and submit it to this contest. You might be selected as a winner, and your school might be provided the resources to realize your students’ dream of making their community better.

You could also win technology equipment for your school—and even win a class trip to compete at the national “Solve for Tomorrow” finals.

So brainstorm with your kids, take five minutes to write it up, and apply today for the Samsung “Solve For Tomorrow” program today. Or refer a friend through the referral program. They’re accepting applications through November 9, 2017.

So let’s do this! And good luck!