Five high school student teams have won the inaugural Lenovo Scholar Network Mobile App Competition. The teams were among 10 finalists that competed to create their apps, beginning in July 2014. All the teams were from career-themed academies that are part of a National Academy Foundation (NAF) network of institutions designed to provide opportunities for underserved high school students.
After a pilot program that tested a new app development curriculum in 2012, the competition, a joint effort between Lenovo and NAF, gave PCs and tablets to 10 teams, along with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology App Inventor, a Web-based tool for creating apps.
The five winning teams developed apps designed to do everything from improve student study habits to help school nurses communicate better with parents of diabetic students.
The winning teams are:
- DeeringDollar from the Phillip O. Berry Academy of Information Technology(Charlotte, NC), which built an app that fosters a token economy society in which virtual dollars are used as a reward system for good deeds in the classroom;
- Flashy Cards from the Cimarron-Memorial High School Academy of Information Technology (Las Vegas), who made a learning tool to help students with their study habits;
- Savant from the Pathways Academy of Technology & Design (Hartford, CT), that allows students to participate in group class discussions, complete assignments and receive push notifications about upcoming deadlines;
- Sukario Kids from the Phillip O. Berry Academy of Information Technology (Charlotte, NC), which created an app that is a blood analyzer and recorder for people with diabetes; and
- WHS Bowling from the Washington High School of Information Technology(Milwaukee), who designed a game that serves as a platform to promote positive messages and behaviors for teenagers.
The five winning teams will present their apps and business plans for marketing them at NAF’s annual NAF Next conference July 20 in Anaheim, CA. A Lenovo Scholar Network Fan Favorite, which the public can vote on, will be announced at the same time.
“We are so proud of all 400 students who participated and the 20 teams who entered their mobile apps in the competition,” said NAF President JD Hoye. “The apps are the end product of their hard work and dedication.”