Gulfport students are national finalists in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest

Back in January, News 25 brought you the story of a group of students at Gulfport High School creating a solar powered vending machine for homeless students. That project is well on its way as the group was awarded $50,000 for their school and advance to the next round. They’re now national finalists of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition.
Gulfport High senior Jendayi London and her team check out their handiwork, a vending machine for homeless students, a project that has landed them a spot as a top ten finalist in Samsung’s $2 million Solve for Tomorrow nationwide contest. “ I was like I can’t believe it. We’re in the top ten. Walking around my house at the top of my lungs, it was exciting,” said London.
Now it’s back to work for these students as they gear up to present their project live in New York City. Gulfport High senior Patrick Camacho said, “Definitely kind of nervous. This is a big thing, going to New York and actually presenting this. This could actually become something that’s going to affect the community.”
When News 25 first brought you this story in January, the machine was empty and the students were still trying to figure out exactly how it would work. Now, it’s fully stocked, fully functional, and now they’re ready to present it to a panel of judges in New York. “We have to prepare a story board because we can’t ship the vending machine there. We’re going to do a story board to show what the process we’ve gone through, how we came up with the idea, what technical issues we’ve had and where we plan to go,” said London.
The ten national groups will have three minutes to present their projects before seven minutes of questioning from the judges. “They make the decision and then from the top ten in the nation they pick three and from those three they get the ultimate prize of at least $150,000,” said Camacho.
These students say even if they don’t win the grand prize, they hope their journey will inspire others to step up and give back. Gulfport High senior Ashley Brock said, “High school students my age, they’re not doing things like this on a daily basis. For me to be able to represent essentially my entire school addressing this problem in our community is a lot of weight on my shoulders, I feel like I can handle it.”
The students leave for New York Monday, March 13th.
Anyone throughout the country can vote for their favorite school or project. To view the videos visit Samsung.com/solve and cast your vote by posting your favorite school’s given hashtag on Twitter. To vote for Gulfport High School tweet #samsungsolveGPHS.