NC High Schoolers Win Statewide Contest To Develop Useful Apps | Eastern North Carolina Now

    RALEIGH: Three North Carolina high school teams developed winning mobile applications in the state's second annual Ready, Set, App! contest, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The contest is sponsored by the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE), a business-led, education non-profit within the Governor's Office, in partnership with Lenovo.

    The winners of the statewide competition are: Team Pantry Patrol from Enloe High School in Wake County, who developed an application (or app) to simplify daily operations at food banks; Team Go Compost with students from NC School of Science and Math, East Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill High School and Smith Middle School in Durham and Orange counties, who developed an app to cut down on food waste; and Team Ready, Set, Route! from Pitt County Early College High School, who developed an app to help bus drivers better communicate with students and school administrators.

    "Developing an app takes teamwork, persistence and knowledge of technology, all skills that can serve students well in school and in their future careers," Governor Cooper said. "Congratulations to these Ready, Set, App! winning students for coming up with ingenious solutions to real-world problems."

    Ready, Set, App! challenges high school students across North Carolina to develop a mobile app to solve a problem in their school or community. Each team includes 3-5 students and an educator who serves as their advisor. In addition, each team receives support from a Ready, Set, App! student mentor, who is skilled in coding, to assist the team throughout the app development process.

    "As a global technology company with headquarters here in North Carolina, Lenovo is committed, long-term, to investing in STEM education in our state," said Libby Richards, community engagement manager at Lenovo. "Through programs like Ready, Set, App! we hope to inspire students to become problem solvers in their community — using technology to make a difference."

    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's competition was held virtually and teams worked together remotely. Despite these challenges, students delivered projects with the potential to impact their communities and beyond. In the program's second year, 47 teams from across the stated registered and worked on development from October to March. Six finalists were selected by a panel of 35 Lenovo employees and community members. These teams participated virtually in a pitch competition on April 17, answering questions from business leaders, IT professionals and educators. Each member of the winning teams received prizes provided by Lenovo.

    The competition, open to all North Carolina high school students, will be held again in 2022, with a kickoff event planned for the fall. For more information regarding the Ready, Set, App! Competition, please visit HERE.

    More information about the 2021 winners:

    First Place — Team Pantry Patrol from William G. Enloe High School in Wake County. This team is composed of ninth-grade students Siddharth Maruvada, Abhinav Meduri, and Arnav Meduri. They developed an app that simplifies the daily operations of food pantries, with a special emphasis on tracking, monitoring and eliminating food waste in collaboration with food banks. The group was led by Lori Kubik, a math and computer science educator for Enloe High School.

    Second Place — Team Go Compost is comprised of students from schools across Durham and Orange County. Team members include eleventh-grade student Ben Li from the NC School of Science and Math, tenth-grade students Bo Chi and Yichen Sun from East Chapel Hill High School and Chapel Hill High School, respectively, and eighth-grade student Yikuan Sun from Smith Middle School. Their app promotes composting as an actionable solution to today's food waste crisis by working as a learning tool for composting beginners. The group was led by Garrison Reid, director of academy and information technology, for Chapel Hill High School.

    Third Place — Team Ready, Set, Route! from Pitt County Schools Early College. Team members include twelfth-grade students Eleazar Yisrael, Oscar Pereyda, and Broderick Purvis. Their app serves as a communication tool for bus drivers, students, and school/county representatives. The group was led by advisor Laurel Currie, a mathematics and STEM teacher at Pitt County Schools Early College.

    Serving as peer mentors were Gabrian Chua and Aman Anas from Apex High School, Leah Guilford and Kyla Guilford from Wake Young Women's Leadership Academy, and Annasimone Halim and Shreya Gundam from Enloe High School. The peer mentors assisted the students in developing their app and pitch.