Pleasant Hills Middle School Advances in Samsung's $2 Million National STEAM Contest

Pleasant Hills Middle School (PHMS), part of the West Jefferson Hills School District, was named one of the nation’s 255 state finalists in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, a program that encourages students to solve real-world issues in their community using classroom skills in science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM). Mrs. Jennifer Kassimer’s seventh-grade classroom was chosen based on their proposal to use STEAM skills to address bus safety issues.To tackle this project, students will work to design a storage frame that can retrofit onto an existing bus seat to allow students to put their belongings under the seats without their items sliding forward. The students had several good ideas, but chose to focus on how unsafe the busses can be with student belongings strewn in the walkway and being unable to accommodate three students per seat. 

As one of five state finalists in PA, Mrs. Kassimer will win a Samsung Chromebook® to use in her classroom. Pleasant Hills Middle School will now have the opportunity to advance in the competition for additional classroom technology prizes. Mrs. Kassimer is currently working on an Activity Plan outlining how her students will execute their project. If she is named the PA State Winner in December, Pleasant Hills Middle School will receive a $25,000 Samsung technology package! 

More About the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest:
• The 255 state finalists will submit an Activity Plan, outlining their project development and the issue it will work to solve.
• State winners: 51 state winners will be selected to submit a video of their project in action. For achieving state winner status, 41 of those schools will receive a $25,000 Samsung technology package, which includes a Samsung video kit to produce their video.
• National finalists: 10 national finalists will be selected to attend a Pitch Event where they will pitch their project to a panel of judges. For achieving national finalist status, 7 schools will receive a $50,000 Samsung technology package.
• National grand prize winners: 3 national winners will be selected and each will receive a $150,000 Samsung technology package.
• Community Choice Award: All of the 10 national finalists will be eligible to win an additional $20,000 Samsung technology package based on social media voting.