In November, the Verizon Foundation, in partnership with the Technology Student Association, launched the second ever Innovative App Challenge, a national competition in which students develop a mobile application concept that addresses and helps solve local social issues.
Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies, located in Metairie, LA, was named the Best in State at the Verizon Innovative App Challenge and will now go on to compete in the national competition that engages students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects.
The student team from Haynes was chosen from nearly 1,300 teams nationwide who submitted a wide range of over 770 app concepts.
Haynes students will now compete for Best in Region and potentially Best in Nation with their app that would help fight obesity. All Best in State teams will have the chance to access a self-guided app development course designed by the MIT Media Lab’s App Inventor team and a $5,000 grant if they win Best in Region. In the course, students will learn how to take their apps from concept to completion.
“We saw some fantastic creativity and innovation in the first Innovative App Challenge last year, and this second competition is shaping up to be similarly exciting,” said Krista Bourne, president—Houston/Gulf Coast Region, Verizon Wireless. “It is delightful to see children as young as sixth graders identifying problems and conceptualizing solutions that can be developed into a usable app.”