A group of students at Hope of Detroit Academy has taken community involvement to a whole new level, becoming finalists in a competition for more than $100,000 for their school.
Their app, “Green Warrior,” earned them a National Finalist position in Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow contest -- and teacher Allie Langwald spoke about it, along with one of her students, Yaritza Campos.
The competition by Samsung called on students across the nation to identify and solve a problem in the community. At Hope of Detroit, that mission was to help clean up blight in the neighborhood.
The students worked with Langwald to develop an app in which users could tag locations of blight within the city.
The students took photos and wrote descriptions, pinning more than 400 instances. They were then able to send that information to city leaders who could help take action.
Cleaned areas could be tagged in the app to let the community know where a site has been cleaned up.
Langwald said the goal is to get 50% of the target areas cleaned by the end of summer.
Campos, a junior, said it’s been an honor to be recognized in her community for her work. She said it’s important to her because she’d like to leave the city a safer place for her brother, who uses a wheelchair.
The grand prize is $130,000 for the winning school, and you can vote once daily -- by clicking or tapping here! -- throughout the month of April to help the group win an additional $15,000.
Hope of Detroit Academy is now accepting new students interested in technology and STEM. The school prides itself on being a multicultural community of learners who strives toward excellence and achievement.
To learn more about the program, watch the video above.