Submitted by the San Juan Island School District

Friday Harbor High School has been named one of 300 State Finalists in the 14th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. Students in Friday Harbor High School’s Eco-Club are trying to use STEM concepts and technology to meaningfully impact the amount of food waste produced in K-12 educational settings not only here on the island but around the world. They are hoping to use gamification and coding to build a system that allows food waste to be tracked, coded, and made into a challenge for students to reduce every time they eat. Through this process, they hope to offset the 530,000 tons of food waste produced in the US alone each year. They have won a $2,500 prize package to help start implementing their idea. If they are selected as a State Winner, they will receive a $12,000 prize package and the potential for additional prizes. National Finalists participate in a live pitch event where they present their project to a panel of judges for the chance to win a $100,000 prize package.

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a national competition designed to empower students in grades 6-12 to leverage the power of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) to create innovative solutions addressing critical issues in their local communities.

The competition empowers public middle and high school students to catalyze change by applying Problem-based Learning (PBL) principles, environmental stewardship, and entrepreneurship to address some of society’s most pressing challenges.

Students participating in this year’s competition have boldly entered their game-changing ideas to tackle the climate crisis, accessibility, mental health matters like student anxiety and loneliness, food insecurity, cybersecurity, aid for the unhoused and migrants, and more.

Congratulations to the Friday Harbor High School Eco-Club on being one of 300 State Finalists in the 14th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition! Good luck with the next stage of the competition!