Students Working To Solve Water Woes Are Semi-Finalists In National Contest

A team of middle school students who set out to solve water problems in Wyoming County has made it to the semi-finals of the Samsung company’s 16th annual Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition.

Huff Consolidated Elementary/Middle School is one of 100 schools across the nation and the only school in West Virginia to get this far in the competition.

Semi-final teams get a $10,000 prize package that includes Samsung technology and one-on-one mentorship to help further develop their ideas.

The Huff Consolidated team is designing an affordable water purification system powered by a high-tech network which turns everyday items into smart devices that can monitor water quality.

Their teacher Brittany Baker, a science and social studies teacher leading the team of 15 sixth, seventh and eighth graders, said it’s a “huge problem” in the area, particularly for low-income and elderly residents.

“They see the bright orange water in the streams, and they have questions,” Baker said.

“We have a lot of acid mine drainage and alkali drainage, and we have an area that is a poverty-stricken area and that they just don’t have access to clean drinking water. So this was not only a good opportunity to learn about environmental issues, but also to give back and help the community,” she said.

Semi-finalists were chosen from thousands of applications nationwide.

Three other West Virginia schools received the Promising STEM Innovation award.