Two Teams from Alexandria, VA in Running to Win Verizon Innovative App Challenge

Schools Named as Finalist for Nationwide Competition from Fairfax County Mark Twain Middle School and Thomas Jefferson High School among nationwide schools in the running to win Verizon App Challenge. January 24, 2014 LAUREL, MD Eighty-one teams of creative middle and high school students have earned the title Best in State in the second Verizon Innovative App Challenge, a national competition in which students design a mobile application concept that addresses a need or problem in their local schools or communities. Among the 81 teams are two from Alexandria, VA:

• Mark Twain Middle School, for its app concept GENE-I-US Labs, that would educate users about the different types of genotypes and encourage students to learn through the app's game.
• Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology for its app concept, STEMwork, to provide women with knowledge about current developments in STEM areas and advice about developing a career in STEM.

The competition was created by the Verizon Foundation in partnership with the Technology Student Association to encourage students to use technology to help solve local social issues. Student teams nationwide and with a wide variety of backgrounds and interests submitted more than 770 app concepts, which made selecting the winning teams highly competitive. Nearly 1,300 teams entered the contest, and almost 40 percent of them were from underserved schools. READ FULL ARTICLE