Rice Middle School in Plano Wins 'Best in Nation' in National Verizon Innovative App Challenge

DALLAS, Feb. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A student group at Rice Middle School in Plano is one of eight teams to win Best in Nation in the third Verizon Innovative App Challenge. The team's app concept, Mind Glass, offers students with dyslexia options for customizing text to make it easier for them to read and comprehend.

"I am proud of these students and their accomplishment," said Chris Glasscock, principal at Rice Middle School. "They came to me with the idea to organize a club in order to participate in the Verizon App Challenge.  I thought the idea they had of creating an app designed to help those individuals with dyslexia was an excellent idea and could eventually be a great benefit to those who use it.  I am amazed at the finished concept and excited for the students.  Congratulations to team Mind Glass and thank you Verizon for encouraging so many young minds to flourish!"

The national competition, created by the Verizon Foundation in partnership with the Technology Student Association, challenged student teams to develop mobile application concepts that address a need or problem in the students' communities or schools.

Michelle Miller, region president of Verizon Wireless, said: "Verizon applauds the winning teams – and all the students who entered the App Challenge – for their effort. We're particularly proud to have a Best in Nation winner right here in the Central Texas region for the second year in a row. My wholehearted congratulations go to the team at Rice Middle School and I look forward to seeing their app once it is fully developed."

Addressing a Critical Need for STEM Students, Workers

The Verizon Innovative App Challenge is designed to respond to a critical need to inspire student interest in science, technology, engineering and math. Student interest and proficiency in STEM has been stagnant in the United States, especially among women and minorities, although 80 percent of all jobs over the next decade will require STEM skills. By focusing on concepts for mobile apps, Verizon's App Challenge channels young people's devotion to their mobile devices into a hands-on learning experience that empowers them to become builders of technology solutions to everyday problems. Learning to develop their concepts into working apps is an effective way to further engage them in STEM-related subjects and transform them from users of technology to creators.

More than 90 percent of the winners from last year's Innovative App Challenge expressed interest in pursuing STEM careers after learning coding and launching their winning app.  One of the Verizon Innovative App Challenge winners from last year was invited to the annual White House Science Fair to demonstrate  its 'Hello Navi' app, built to help a blind classmate better navigate the halls at school. Another Best in Nation team from Bronx, N.Y., from the first year of the contest credits the winning experience as the impetus to realize their passion and potential for greatness. The students' story is captured in Verizon's "Potential of Us" Black History Month national advertising campaign.

Tablets for Winning Students, Grants for Their Schools

Best in Nation teams earned their schools $20,000 in cash grants from the Verizon Foundation to further develop or support STEM-related programming. Each team member received a Samsung tablet, courtesy of Samsung Electronics America. Over the next few weeks, MIT App Inventor Master Trainers from the Center for Mobile Learning at the MIT Media Lab will give the Best in Nation teams onsite and virtual training on coding and app development, using MIT App Inventor to develop the teams' apps.

Verizon, in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab, will help the students develop their app concepts, making them ready for sharing and distribution. Apps developed during the first two years of the Verizon Innovative App Challenge have been downloaded more than 26,000 times.

In June, the members of the eight winning teams will be invited to present their apps in person at the National TSA Conference in Dallas, courtesy of Verizon.

Learn more about the Innovative App Challenge, as well as this year's Best in State and Best in Region winners at http://verizon.com/appchallenge. 

About the Verizon Foundation

The Verizon Foundation is focused on accelerating social change by using the company's innovative technology to help solve pressing problems in education, healthcare and energy management.  Since 2000, the Verizon Foundation has invested more than half a billion dollars to improve the communities where Verizon employees work and live. Verizon's employees are generous with their donations and their time, having logged more than 6.8 million hours of service to make a positive difference in their communities.  For more information about Verizon's philanthropic work, visit www.verizon.com/about/responsibility; or for regular updates, visit Facebook (www.facebook.com/verizonfoundation) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/verizongiving).

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with more than 108 million retail connections nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers worldwide. A Dow 30 company with more than $127 billion in 2014 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 177,300. For more information, visit www.verizon.com/news/.

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SOURCE Verizon

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