LENOVO SCHOLAR NETWORK IS OPEN TO ALL 600+ NAF ACADEMIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES TO APPLY; THE 2019-20 SCHOOL YEAR WILL MARK THE SIXTH YEAR OF THE PARTNERSHIP WITH NEARLY 6,000 STUDENTS PARTICIPATING
(DETROIT, MI) – July 10, 2019: Lenovo and NAF announced the 2019 Lenovo Scholar Network “Fan Favorite” mobile app honoree today at NAF Next 2019 in Detroit, MI. The winning team was chosen out of five team finalists by online voters. NAF Nextis NAF’s signature event that brings together education, business, and community leaders to network and share ideas for how to increase opportunities, grow partnerships, and improve learning experiences and outcomes for high school students nationwide.
The 2019 national Lenovo Scholar Network “Fan Favorite” winner is Collier Mobile from Barron Collier High School Academy of Hospitality and Tourism in Naples, FL. The team will receive state-of-the-art technology, courtesy of Lenovo.
Collier Mobile enables students in Collier County Public Schools to use their mobile device to access important school-based information, see their academic progress, and receive alerts and notifications from their high school.
The mobile app competition is part of the Lenovo Scholar Network, a partnership that Lenovo and NAF created in 2014 to encourage greater interest among underserved high school students in STEM subjects, while enabling them with entrepreneurial and technology skills needed to pursue careers in computer science, programming and engineering.
In its first year, 10 NAF IT academies were invited with a goal of reaching 250 students, surpassing that goal by serving more than 400 students nationwide. As the Lenovo Scholar Network prepares to enter its sixth year, it is expected to serve over 6,000 NAF students across the country. In conjunction with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) App Inventor, a project within the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL), Lenovo Scholar Network students have the opportunity to use MIT App Inventor to develop Android mobile apps using Lenovo devices. NAF and MIT work together to provide technical assistance to teachers in the Lenovo Scholar Network and to develop support materials for teachers using MIT App Inventor.
Teams from 120 NAF academies developed apps during the 2018-2019 academic year as part of the program, powered by Lenovo-provided ThinkPad laptops and Yoga tablets to aid in development, coding, and testing of apps. In its fifth year, the program had a panel of more than 150 judges select the five winners. Panelists included representatives from Citi and Lenovo. Online voting for the “Fan Favorite” winner ran through mid-May to July 8th.
At NAF Next, each of the winning student teams presented its winning app. In addition to Collier Mobile announced today, the other four winning app teams from the national competition who presented were:
- Enloe High School, Academy of Health Sciences, Raleigh, NC
- Provides a user-friendly way for people of all ages to track the levels of lead in their blood over an extended period of time
- Hamburg High School Academy of Finance, Hamburg, NY
- A resource for people to improve their mental health and support others
- Southwest Miami Senior High School Academy of Finance, Miami, FL
- Educates users about budgeting, finances, and how to improve current credit
- Carencro High School Academy of Information Technology, Lafayette, LA
- Designed to help people relax with breathing exercises, drawing, and soundscapes
NAF Chief Executive Officer, JD Hoye said, “Congratulations to our 2019 Fan Favorite winner! We are so proud of your success and look forward to your future creations. We’d also like to applaud all of this year’s winning teams and thank Lenovo for being our partner in this work. Your continued support makes the national competition more exciting every year!”
“Lenovo’s partnership with NAF is about inspiring young people to pursue STEM studies, embrace technology and make the world a better place,” said Matt Zielinski, president of Lenovo North America, who studied electrical engineering at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. “We’re proud of all the students who participated in this year’s mobile competition, and I offer special congratulations to the Collier Mobile team honored as the ‘Fan Favorite’.”
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About
NAF
NAF, is a national network of education, business, and community leaders who work together to ensure that high school students are college, career, and future ready.
NAF works with high need communities to transform the high school experience through an educational design that includes industry-specific curricula, work-based learning experiences, and relationships with business professionals, culminating in a paid internship. NAF academies fit within and enhance school systems, allowing NAF to become an integral part of a plan for higher achievement at a low cost. NAF academies focus on one of five career themes: finance, hospitality & tourism, information technology, engineering, and health sciences. During the 2018-19 school year, over 100,000 students attended 617 NAF academies across 35 states, including DC and the US Virgin Islands. In 2018, NAF academies reported 99% of seniors graduated with 87% of graduates planning to go to college. For more information, please visit: https://naf.org/
Media Contacts:
Lenovo
George Farthing, (919) 257-6242
gfarthing@lenovo.com
NAF
Courtney Savoia, (646) 896-3881
csavoia@naf.org