Verizon Challenges Students To Develop Their Own Apps

Verizon kicked off its third annual Innovative App Challenge on Monday. The program challenges teams of middle and high school students to conceptualize and create mobile apps that solve problems in their schools and communities.

Teams of five to seven students and a faculty advisor from any middle or high school in the United States can register for the competition at verizonfoundation.org. The deadline for submissions is November 24 and winners will be named in January.
One of last year's winning teams was a group of girls from Resaca Middle School who built an app to help visually impaired people navigate buildings.

Verizon will select winners at three levels:

  • Best in State — One middle and one high school in each state will be selected as having their state's best app concept. Winners who do not advance to the next round will have access to a self-guided app-development course offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab App Inventor team.
  • Best in Region — Twenty-four middle and high school teams from the West, Midwest, South and East regions of the U.S. will be picked. Those that do not advance to the final round will receive virtual training on coding and support from the MIT Center for Mobile Learning.
  • Best in Nation — Finally, eight national winning teams will receive $15,000 cash grants and new tablets for each member of their teams. Along with onsite and virtual training from the MIT Media Lab, Verizon will assist their teams in taking their apps to the Google Play Store and they will present their apps at the 2015 Technology Student Association National Conference.

Teams will be judged on whether their ideas solve challenges in their communities, include STEM principles and are creative, unique and innovative. No coding or experience or mobile devices are required to enter.

One of last year's winning teams from Resaca Middle School in Los Fresnos, TX, developed an app they called "Hello Navi" that assists visually impaired people in navigating inside buildings. The faculty advisor of the all-girl team, Maggie Bolado, said they came up with the idea for the app in order to help one of their classmates who is blind.

Bolado said, "I never dreamed my students would develop an app that would earn them such recognition. They were even invited to the White House Science Fair and demonstrated their app in person for President Obama."

About the Author

Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.

Featured

  • AI-powered individual working calmly on one side and a burnt-out person slumped over a laptop on the other

    AI's Productivity Gains Come at a Cost

    A recent academic study found that as companies adopt AI tools, they're not just streamlining workflows — they're piling on new demands. Researchers determined that "AI technostress" is driving burnout and disrupting personal lives, even as organizations hail productivity gains.

  • AI microchip under cybersecurity attack, surrounded by symbols of threats like a skull, spider, lock, and warning shield

    Report Finds Agentic AI Protocol Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks

    A new report from Backslash Security has identified significant security vulnerabilities in the Model Context Protocol (MCP), technology introduced by Anthropic in November 2024 to facilitate communication between AI agents and external tools.

  • laptop displaying a red padlock icon sits on a wooden desk with a digital network interface background

    Reports Point to Domain Controllers as Prime Ransomware Targets

    A recent report from Microsoft reinforces warns of the critical role Active Directory (AD) domain controllers play in large-scale ransomware attacks, aligning with U.S. government advisories on the persistent threat of AD compromise.

  • educators seated at a table with a laptop and tablet, against a backdrop of muted geometric shapes

    HMH Forms Educator Council to Inform AI Tool Development

    Adaptive learning company HMH has established an AI Educator Council that brings together teachers, instructional coaches and leaders from school district across the country to help shape its AI solutions.