The goal of the Challenge is to increase student interest and knowledge in STEM subjects and mobile technology through an engaging and empowering learning experience.
Click here to sign up to receive information on the 2014-2015 App Challenge
2014 – 2015 App Challenge Flyer
DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE
The Verizon Innovative App Challenge is an exciting, creative and collaborative competition that offers $20,000 grants for winning middle schools and high schools and Samsung Galaxy Tabs for students on the winning teams. Designed to ignite students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the Challenge shows students exciting new possibilities for their futures, opening doors they may never have known were there.
- Working with a faculty advisor, teams of 5 – 7 students develop an original concept for a mobile app that incorporates STEM principles and content and addresses a real need or problem in their school or community. While designing their apps, students consider marketplace need, usefulness, audience and viability and align their app concept with one of the three Verizon Foundation focus areas of Education, Healthcare or Sustainability. Teams submit their design concepts online through an App Concept Overview and Summary, a three-to-five minute Video and Essay Responses.
- The top middle school and top high school teams that meet all contest requirements will be named “Best in State” and be eligible for consideration as “Best in Region” winners. Team members will be invited to participate in a live STEM related webinar hosted by the Verizon Foundation.
- Twenty-four (24) Best in Region winners will be selected from the Best in State teams around the country based on a judging rubric. Each of the twenty-four (24) regional winning schools (12 middle school and 12 high school teams) will receive $5,000 cash grants plus virtual support and training to help them build out their app concepts.
- A distinguished panel of STEM educators and corporate innovators will then judge the Best in Region teams’ app concepts and designs based on their online submissions and their presentations during a live webinar. The four (4) top middle school and four top high school teams will be selected and announced as 2015 Verizon Innovative App Challenge winners.
- Each of the eight (8) winning schools (4 middle school and 4 high school teams) will receive additional $15,000 cash grants plus professional support and training to help them build out their app concepts and bring them to life. Each student on the eight winning teams will receive a Samsung Galaxy Tab and be invited to present their developed apps in person – on their new tablets – at the 2015 National Technology Student Association Conference in Dallas, Texas in June, 2015.
The Verizon Innovative App Challenge offers a unique opportunity for students around the country to participate in a rich, project-based learning experience that fosters teamwork and encourages them to explore new ideas and consider future careers in STEM.
Registration opens August 4, 2014. Visit the How to Enter page for pre-registration.
