HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Students from McArthur High School and Pine Crest Middle School took top prizes at the fifth annual Verizon Innovative Learning App Challenge for apps they created.
Winners were announced last month.
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The challenge was a collaboration between the Verizon Foundation, Technology Student Association and MIT Media Lab, and is made to encourage students to get involved in science, technology, engineering and math programs.
The team from Pine Crest designed an app called Cross-Border Telemedicine, which works by partnering surgeons and other medical professionals with health care workers in war-torn regions of the world that have limited health care access.
"We thought about a global problem and the refugee crisis is one of the largest humanitarian problems," said Ryan Kronrad, 12. The CBT covers regions in the Sudan, Kosovo and Somalia.
The team from McArthur made an app called Hunger Aid, which is designed to link restaurant owners with food bank volunteers, so they can donate leftovers.
"Both my parents work in the food industry and they used to tell me about how much food went to waste," senior David Trujillo, 18, said. "After doing a lot of research, we knew there was a better way to use that food."
Teams from both schools created a 30-second commercial and a three-minute video
to promote their app, and responded to four essay questions.
Their prize was $5,000 for their schools and a tablet for each team member.
Both teams are now competing on a national level for a top prize that includes $15,000 to help build their app.
"This experience has made me feel really good about myself, like I’ve accomplished something," Ashlyn McGinn, of Pine Crest, said.
Skyler Abruscati, from the McArthur team, agreed.
"I think we underestimated ourselves, so I was very happy and excited that we won," Skyler said.
Both teams are eligible to win the fan favorite award at the national competition. Voting is open until Tuesday by texting either “telemed” or “hunaid” to 22333.
- Story by Local 10 News intern Ariana Boland