Ashland, KY. – Students at Ashland Middle School were named Community Choice Award Winners in the 10th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, which encourages teachers and students to solve real-world issues in their community using STEM skills.

The school will receive $50,000 for being named one of 20 national finalists, plus $10,000 for being named Community Choice Award Winner as a result of online voting.

The project aimed to make rescue of mobility-challenged students in multi-level structures easier with a chair designed to allow students to navigate stairs during an emergency and an app for administrators to quickly identify and track the location of the students. An accompanying kit includes weighted blankets, noise-cancelling headphones and light-eliminating glasses to aid students with “invisible disabilities,” including asthma and epilepsy.

Eighth-graders Emily Aliff, Nathan Woolery and Samuel Tibbitts presented the 20-member team’s project to a panel of seven judges over the internet.

The contest received more than 3,000 entries.

For more information, check out the full article published by Lee Ward with The Daily Independent.