Newberry High named SC winner in STEM Competition

NEWBERRY — Newberry High School was selected as the South Carolina state winner for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM Competition and has moved into the national competition.

Newberry High School was selected because of teacher Heather Herzog Alexander’s class, who noticed that the trash cans around the school were overflowing. The students found that every day, the school generated around 1,440 gallons of trash from lunch alone. They sought to keep the trash out of landfills, reusing plastic trays and composting fruits and vegetables.

“We had to sort it from plastic and food,” explained one of the students. “The vegetable, fruit and paper products were used for compost.”

“The plastic trays will be used for art projects until they get torn up. Then, we’ll put them inside concrete pavers to make the pavers lighter and keep the trays out of the landfill,” another added.

Food was separated into compostable and non-compostable foods, with vegetables and fruits put in the compostable group while meats, dairy items and citrus were put into non-compostable. The class’s efforts have had a ripple effect around the school, with other students separating food items and plastic themselves.

“They’ve [the class] been the big leaders,” said English teacher Heather Herzog Alexander.

The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM Competition began in 2010 as a nationwide contest for students in grades six through 12 to look at a local problem and see how STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) could be applied to solve the problem.

“STEM is a critical area of study and career,” said Ann Woo, the competition organizer. “It can be used to create wonderful solutions to real-world problems.”

Woo explained that according to PISA (Program for International Student Assessment), STEM scores in the United States are the worst they have been due to the complications brought on by COVID-19. Although scores in the classroom have dipped, interest in local problems has risen and students have been driven to bring a change now rather than wait. Woo explained that the competition is a way to get students interested in STEM by seeing firsthand how it can be applied, which is exactly what Newberry did.

“They’re a generation empowered to make change now, rather than wait,” said Woo. “What we loved about Newberry is they thought about trash and scrap and found a way to decrease their carbon footprint by recycling things for the garden. They ensure trash doesn’t go into a landfill and gets greater utility and used for the community. They have a great understanding of how initiative and impact can be continuous.”

The year-long project is far from being over. As of now, the students have set up garden plots and made rain barrels from reused plastic with help from the Newberry Soil and Water Conservation Center. For now, the class is planning on planting gardenias and other flowers, but they intend on starting a vegetable garden in the coming months.

“We’re going to plant different sets of flowers in each one of the alcoves so the teachers can see them and make it more eco-friendly,” said Alexander.

With Newberry High School being one of 50 winners of the statewide competition, they have been awarded $12,000 worth of technology for their school. The Samsung technology is to benefit the whole school, saying that they are dedicated to supporting education.

“We know that there’s always a need for technology in the classrooms and we’re proud to support education,” said Woo. “We’re so proud of the students at Newberry High School. They showed the importance of such an important issue and we are so excited to see more to come.”

In late March, Newberry High School will find out if they are one of the 10 national finalists that will go to D.C. and present their project to a panel in April. Each of the 10 nationalists will be awarded a $50,000 prize package.