ROBERTSDALE – A central Baldwin high school will represent Alabama in a national STEM competition.

Robertsdale High School was selected as the state winner in the 13th-annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition and will receive $12,000 in prize money for technology and school supplies. The school focused on creating a multi-step project for a living coastline shoreline for the competition, according to a news release.

As the 50 state winners continue their journey toward the national competition, each will receive a video production kit from Samsung to help document their STEM project. In May, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow will name three schools as national winners, each of which will receive $100,000 in prize packages comprised of Samsung Technology and classroom supplies.

Solve for Tomorrow challenges U.S. public middle and high school students to explore the role STEM (a curriculum based around science, technology, engineering and math) can play in solving some of the biggest issues in their local communities. The competition engages students in active, hands-on learning that can be applied to real-world problems – making STEM more tangible and showcasing its value beyond the classroom.

The winning schools were selected from a pool of 300 state finalists that submitted detailed lesson plans outlining how students propose using STEM to address an important community issue.

“Every year, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow entries provide a unique snapshot of the concerns and issues on the minds of America’s students – identifying what they perceive as pressing community issues they want to help solve,” said Ann Woo, senior director, Corporate Citizenship, Samsung Electronics America. “This year, what stood out for us was how frequently global issues of environmental sustainability found relevance in a local community issue our students wanted to address. Fully a quarter of all submissions fell into that category, followed by safety issues for schools and communities, water conservation and mental and physical health. Notably, about half of the state winners are from Title 1 schools.”

Overall, $2 million in prizes will be awarded during this year’s edition of Solve for Tomorrow.

Robertsdale and other state winners must submit a three-minute video demonstrating how they are using STEM to address the issue raised in their lesson plan.

Based on those video submissions, the field of 50 will be whittled down to 10 national finalists who will pitch their project to a team of judges during an in-person event in May.

Samsung employees will once again serve as mentors. They will be assigned to the state winners on a one-to-one basis to help guide teams as they develop their projects and build a prototype.

Woo emphasized the mission behind the competition, saying “Samsung Solve for Tomorrow provides schools and teachers with an innovative, problem-based learning approach to STEM education. At Samsung, we inspire the world and shape the future with transformative ideas and technologies. Our business is all about igniting the next generation of innovators and changemakers. None of that would be possible without the STEM disciplines and a STEM-savvy workforce. Solve for Tomorrow’s goal is to boost student interest, proficiency and diversity in STEM. And hopefully encourage them to pursue STEM careers.