When we make the decision to put our children on a school bus each morning, we put them in the hands of the bus driver to follow the rules of the road and deliver our children to and from school safely. Unfortunately, many of the injuries and fatalities that occur involving children and school buses happen before the student ever steps foot on the bus. Nationally, 88% of bus drivers report what is called a Stop Arm Violation, that is, vehicles passing a school bus when the stop arm is extended and lights are flashing. In North Carolina, there are over 3,000 stop arm violations each day. Let that number sink in for just a moment. Over 3,000 violations each day, not each week or even each year, but each day. Think about the number of lives at risk with each of these 3,000 violations. For a group of Holly Grove Middle School students, this number was unacceptable, and when they were given the chance to participate in the Samsung Solve For Tomorrow Competition, they knew exactly what they wanted to do.
Debbie Schelin, a sixth-grade science teacher at Holly Grove Middle
School, had no idea where a simple email from Samsung would take her and her students. “I get emails all the time, but when I opened this one from Samsung that talked about their Solve for Tomorrow competition, I thought it was something my students would enjoy,” she said. Knowing how much her students love a little competition, Mrs. Schelin thought this would be a great way to get them excited about learning, and have fun at the same time. Started in 2009, the Solve for Tomorrow Competition challenges 6th-12th grade U.S. public school teachers and their students to submit ideas of how they can solve an issue facing their community using STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). When Mrs. Schelin put the word out about the competition, 19 of her students stepped forward and wanted to take part.
The students in her group had a friend who was almost hit by a car while getting on the school bus. This was the inspiration for their idea of a school bus sign that flashes when a bus is approaching. The idea was to have a sign that syncs with a GPS signal and cell phone app on school buses. When the bus is 400 feet away from the sign, the app activates the sign causing it to flash yellow, warning drivers that a school bus is approaching and planning to stop at that specific bus stop location. When the bus is 30 feet away, the lights flash red indicating the school bus is about to stop. Drivers would have a more accurate idea of where the actual bus stop is located and can prepare for the stop ahead of time, rather than guessing where the stop is and being unable to stop in time. Once the group had an idea, it was time to implement and get the specifics down. “We met with members of the Wake County Public Schools Transportation department, members of the NCDOT and our Mayor, Dick Sears,” Schelin said. Along with members of the Holly Springs Police Department and the school’s public safety resources, the students were able to design a sign and prototype for the competition. “John Sandor, an NCDOT Engineer, was kind enough to help us understand the specific requirements needed for a sign. He even had his sign team help us with the actual prototype for the competition,” she said. The hard part came when it was time to figure out the technology for the sign. “We have one student whose father is an engineer with Red Hat, and he taught his son how to code. He spent hours at night and on the weekends learning how to code so we could get the technology right for the sign,” Schelin said.
Teams compete at the state level first, and in October, after submitting a plan for their solution, the Holly Grove Middle School team learned that they were in the top 5 for North Carolina. “We were so excited to learn that we were in the top 5 and won a tablet from Samsung,” Mrs. Schelin said.
But that was just the beginning. Next, Samsung announced the 50 state winners and Holly Grove Middle was the winner for North Carolina. After winning for the state, it was time to go national! “Then we found out that we were in the top 10 national finals. Three students and myself were flown to New York for their Pitch event.” Because Schelin couldn’t pick just three of her amazing team members, she had each student interested in going to New York audition in front of a panel of impartial teachers from Holly Grove Middle School, making the audition fair for everyone. Once the three students were selected, it was off to the Big Apple.
Once in New York, the students presented their ideas along with nine other national finalists. “We competed against middle school and high school students because the competition was for 6th-12th grade, and our students were amazing,” Schelin said, and she wasn’t the only one who thought so. The team from Holly Grove Middle School was one of the three finalists who not only won $100,000 in Samsung technology and resources for their school, but they were also given the opportunity to fly to Washington, D.C. to meet with congressional leaders. Once again, Mrs. Schelin turned to her co-workers to help her decide which three students to take to Washington, D.C. Once the auditions took place and the choices were made, it was off to the nation’s capital, where the students and their teacher presented their invention to lawmakers and policy makers from across the country.
Since their extraordinary success, the students and their teacher have been featured in national publications, countless news stories and have even had a proclamation made by Mayor Dick Sears honoring them on their accomplishments. Mrs. Schelin and the students hope their sign will be federally approved to use at bus stops with the highest numbers of reported stop arm violations.
These innovative students, along with the support of their teacher, Debbie Schelin, and community leaders, have proved that they are ready and able to change the world one sign at a time.
