RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – May 14, 2015: Lenovo and the National Academy Foundation (NAF) today announced the five winning student groups of the Lenovo Scholar Network mobile app development contest. The Lenovo Scholar Network, in its first official program year, is designed to enrich high school students with an intensive application development curriculum to enable the next generation of developers and entrepreneurs. As part of their coursework over the 2014 – 2015 academic year, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students were given Lenovo PCs and tablets and tasked with designing and developing a mobile app and business plan to take the app to market.
More than 20 apps were submitted from the 10 NAF academies selected to participate in the Lenovo Scholar Network Mobile App Competition. From the group, the five student groups selected as this year’s winners are:
- DeeringDollar from Phillip O. Berry Academy of Informational Technology – Charlotte, NC
- DeeringDollar is an app built for students in a classroom setting to foster a token economy society, using a reward system in the form of virtual dollars for good deeds conducted in the classroom.
- Flashy Cards from Cimarron-Memorial High School Academy of Information Technology – Las Vegas, NV
- Flashy Cards is a learning tool for students who seek a more engaging way to study. The app serves as virtual flash cards in the form of a game, where points are given or deducted based on the user’s response.
- Savant from Pathways Academy of Technology & Design – Hartford, CT
- Savant eliminates the inconvenience of carrying heavy textbooks by serving as an online portal for students. Through Savant, students can participate in group class discussions, read assigned books and materials, complete assignments and receive push notifications for upcoming deadlines.
- Sukario Kids from Phillip O. Berry Academy of Informational Technology – Charlotte, NC
- Sukario Kids is a subsidiary app for Sukario, an on-the-go blood analyzer and recorder app for diabetics. The app was created to serve as a communication tool between school nurses and parents, where parents can monitor their children’s health throughout the school day via an automated text message sent through the application by the school nurse.
- WHS Bowling from Washington High School of IT – Milwaukee, WI
- WHS Bowling is a game that also serves as a platform to promote positive messages and behaviors for teenagers. While bowling through the app with the flick of a finger, a motivational or encouraging message will appear to enforce positive behavior and discourage bullying.
The five winning student groups are invited to present their app and business plan at NAF’s annual NAF Next conference for professional development in the education space, taking place on July 20, 2015, in Anaheim, California. The Lenovo Scholar Network Fan Favorite, a student group selected by public vote, will also be announced at the conference. To vote, visit www.lenovoscholars.com.
The Lenovo Scholar Network program was established in July 2014 following a successful pilot program in 2012. Lenovo provided the 10 participating NAF academies with Lenovo ThinkPad laptops and YOGA tablets to aid the students in the development, coding and testing of their mobile application, and students used the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) App Inventor, a web-based tool for creating Android apps, to build and test their apps on Lenovo devices.
Quotes:
“It is critical we tackle the STEM skills gap of today’s young generation as everyday technology users become more dependent on apps and devices to enhance their personal and professional lives,” said Jason Mooneyham, vice president of Public Sector, Lenovo. “Through the Lenovo Scholar Network program, we enable students with rigorous yet rewarding coursework in mobile app development to enrich their critical thinking, team building and analytical skills that are required for the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.
“We are so proud of all 400 students who participated in the Lenovo Scholar Network project and the 20 teams who entered their mobile apps in the competition,” said JD Hoye, president, National Academy Foundation. “The apps are the end product of their hard work and dedication, and serve as a tangible example that the NAF academy experience is preparing students to become the innovators of tomorrow’s workforce.”
About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $39 billion global Fortune 500 company and a leader in providing innovative consumer, commercial, and enterprise technology. Our portfolio of high-quality, secure products and services covers PCs (including the legendary Think and multimode YOGA brands), workstations, servers, storage, smart TVs and a family of mobile products like smartphones (including the Motorola brand), tablets and apps. Join us on LinkedIn, follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@Lenovo) or visit us at www.lenovo.com.
About The National Academy Foundation
The National Academy Foundation (NAF) is an acclaimed network of career-themed academies that open doors for underserved high school students to viable careers. For more than 30 years, NAF has refined a proven model that provides young people access to industry-specific curricula, work-based learning experiences, and relationships with business professionals. NAF academies focus on one of five career themes: finance, hospitality & tourism, information technology, engineering, and health sciences. Over 5,000 business professionals volunteer in classrooms, act as mentors, engage NAF students in paid internships, and serve on local advisory boards. During the 2014-15 school year nearly 82,000 students attended 667 NAF academies across 38 states, including D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2014, NAF academies reported 97% of seniors graduated.
