Tunica Middle School was selected as the State Winner for Mississippi in the 15th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow national STEM competition.
The school has been awarded a $12,000 Samsung technology prize package, including a Samsung Video Kit to showcase their proposed STEM solution.
The students at Tunica Middle School are focused on helping students learn to manage their feelings of anxiety and panic.
The winning team will be creating an app that alerts both the students and teachers to biometric signals indicating the onset of an anxiety attack (racing/increased heart rate). This app will allow students to access their coping strategies and manage their anxiety before it escalates into a full-blown attack.
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a national competition designed to empower students in grades 6-12 to unleash the power of STEM to create innovative solutions addressing critical issues in their local communities.
The competition engages these Gen Z and Gen Alpha students in active, hands-on learning that can be applied to real-world problems – making STEM more tangible and showcasing its value both in and outside of the classroom.
• Of the 50 State Winners, 58% of the schools represented were Title 1 schools
• As a group, this year's State Winners showed that they are most concerned with environmental sustainability and climate disasters (28%), public health (26%), and accessibility (20%), followed by public safety and mental health
• The competing State Winner entries embraced cutting-edge technologies like AI (42%), 3D printing (34%), and robotics (14%) to bring their ideas to life.
Tunica School District was rated a failing school district for years and was taken over by the state, the school board disbanded and a conservator placed in charge of the district's finances, hiring, academics and developed a plan to lift the school district.
The Tunica School District rated a B grade on the Mississippi School Accountability testing ranking it's first year out from under conservatorship.
