Neshoba TAG team wins state
Neshoba Central has been selected from thousands of entries nationwide as one of only two Mississippi state winners in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest for a proposed plan to address safety on campus.
The plan is being designed by a group of sixth-grade Talented and Gifted students, who will compete on the national level later this year.
They were among the nation’s 100 state winners (at least one school from all 50 states) to receive $15,000 in technology for their achievement.
Neshoba TAG teacher Becky Spears is very excited for her students.
“We are very excited for the opportunity to implement STEM in our classroom and to show other states what Mississippi students are capable of doing,” she said. “We are really excited over the $15,000.”
Gulfport High School was the other winner from Mississippi.
Dr. Lundy Brantley, superintendent of the Neshoba County School District, was also excited.
“I am extremely proud of the great effort of our students and Mrs. Spears,” Brantley said. “This requires so much dedication and high level thought to achieve this type of award.”
Neshoba Central Middle School Principal Cody Killen shared his excitement.
“When I received the news that our sixth grade TAG team was one of only two teams selected in the entire State of Mississippi, I was beyond proud,” Killen said.
“Our team along with a high school team from Gulfport were the only two! As a principal it made me reflect as to what we are accomplishing, not only as a school, but as a district. It is a testament to the mindset and global thinking that our students and teachers are starting to foster. It speaks volumes to the vision that this district has for its students.”
Killen said he and elementary principal Tiffany Plott often “speak of the great things this program offers our students. The teachers, TAG PTO and students work so hard. This just goes to show how hard they work and I could not be more proud.”
Plott joined in the excitement over the students’ accomplishment.
“Our TAG program is among the best in the state,” she said. “I am so proud of the hard work they put in and of this tremendous accomplishment.”
In addition to the $15,000, Neshoba Central will also receive a Samsung video kit for students to create and submit a three-minute video that showcases their project development and how it addresses the issue. The video will be used for a chance to advance to the next phase of the contest and win additional prizes and educational opportunities.
Spears said her students worked hard on the project doing research and developing a solution to make the school car rider line not only safer, but more user friendly.
The TAG team plans to design an identification card for students which would be scanned at the beginning of the car rider line to alert teachers on a computer or tablet at the end of the line that the student’s driver was arriving for pick up.
“We think this would be safer and also speed up the car line,” Spears said.
The TAG class will now work on a prototype and compile the video showing the process and what they have accomplished so far with the project.
The video will be submitted to the judges who will select 20 national finalists for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest.
Those winners will travel to New York to present their project to a panel of judges.
“Three students and one teacher from each school will travel to New York,” Spears said, of the competition.
TAG students Prentice Copeland and Aly Thomas are excited about the national competition.
"I am very proud that we get to participate in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow challenge especially since we made it in the top 100 finalists,” Copeland said. “I hope that we make it farther, get to go to New York, and figure out how to make the parent pick up line run better than it does normally."
Thomas is excited about the STEM project as well.
"As a gifted student, I feel this Samsung Solve for Tomorrow project is a great way to advance our STEM skills because I know that high schoolers are learning the same that we are and it will definitely help us in the future," she said.
National finalist schools will be awarded $50,000 in technology and classroom materials.
Five grand prize national winner schools will receive a total of $100,000 in technology and classroom materials and participate in a trip to Washington, D. C. to present their projects to members of Congress.
Public voting will also determine one Community Choice winner from the pool of national finalists, who will be eligible to win an additional $10,000 in Samsung technology.