We asked young people to help us solve Washington’s toughest problems.
Over 240 of them responded
From nearly 90 projects from 240+ young people statewide, 8 were chosen as Challenge Honorees, for their exceptional creativity, innovation, and community-focused design. Additionally, 3 projects were chosen for a Challenge Honorable Mention, for their exceptional merit and creativity.
State of Innovation Honorees
The Food Chain
Farm to Table, Table to Farm: Jeremiah, Selma, Reagan, and Annabeth; Tumwater Virtual Academy
Nano Project Honorees
H.A.N.D.S. Sanitary Door Opener: Azeem; Northshore Middle School
Teen Park Spaces: Cannon; Maplewood Parent Cooperative
Responding to COVID-19
Teen Mental Health App with Zen the Chatbot:
Hanen, Mia, and Miriam; Garrison Middle School
Expedition and Crew Meet Up
Noor, Kaitlyn, Keelie, Isabella, Matthew, Veronica; Innovation Lab High School
Honorable Mention
COVID-19 Podcasts from Colville Junior High
“RealTime” with Cooper and Eva
“8th Grade Perspectives” with Rachel and Eliza
Our Communities After COVID-19
VerifyVac Vaccine Passport
Ranjani; Legacy High School
Model Fire Safe Community
Ashlynn; Spokane Valley Tech
Mask Cleaning Machine for Manufacturing Facilities
Emma, Jacob, Anastasia, Andrew, Kadin, Matthew, Mackenzie; North Central High School Engineering Club
Honorable Mention
Homebody Container Housing Business: Anna; West Valley Junior High
Challenge Honorees
Farm to Table, Table to Farm
Created by: Jeremiah, Selma, Reagan, and Annabeth
Tumwater Virtual Academy, Tumwater
Advisor: Jacqueline Collett
This solution to “Food Chain” challenge proposes a business that delivers healthy locally-sourced food to those in need, transport food scraps to local farms to use as compost, and teach learners at local schools about climate change and food waste. Their program emphasizes partnering with the local community (e.g. farmers, seniors, those experience homelessness, and learners). The team even developed a cost model for what it would take to fund the key components of their program.
Teen Mental Health App with Zen the Chatbot
Created by: Hanen, Mia, and Miriam
Garrison Middle School, Walla Walla
Advisor: Michael Bertram
This mental health app connects young people coping with COVID-19 isolation to information about mental health issues, to a supportive peer community, a chat bot to guide users to resources, and connections to therapists to provide more structured support. The thoughtful design and research process followed by the Garrison team made this app concept stand out.
Expedition and Crew Meetup
Created by: Noor, Kaitlyn, Keelie, Isabella, Matthew, Veronica
Innovation Lab High School, Bothell
Advisor: Alex Virga
This solution proposes a strategy for safely interacting with their “crew” (similar to advisory at ILHS) as a way to combat the social isolation that many of them have felt during the pandemic. The team defined a set of conditions, based on public health research and user needs, under which students could see each other outside, in-person, while complying with public health guidelines. This team took that a step further by proposing the ideas to their district’s superintendent.
VerifyVac Vaccine Passport
Created by: Ranjani
Legacy High School
VerifyVac is a platform where people can upload their vaccination card to receive a certified QR code so that individuals have a verified, electronic copy of their vaccination card. Ranjani’s design also includes a web portal so that users can access the digital version of their vaccination card even if they don’t have a phone, or don’t have that phone handy. In addition to reading about the project using the “Learn More” button below, you can watch a demonstration video on YouTube, and Android users can download a prototype of the app to their phone at this link
Model Fire Safe Communities
Created by: Ashlynn
Spokane Valley Tech High School
Advisor: Lori Buratto
This solution presents a model of a community space designed to resist seasonal wildfires that threaten many Washington state communities. Ashlynn specified key building materials, spacing between buildings, and other key design choices as ways to protect against a wildfire spreading across the community. She also developed a brochure to educate community members of the causes and impacts of wildfires, and some strategies to prevent and manage wildfires.
Mask Cleaning Machine for Manufacturing Facilities
Created by: Ryan, Emma, Jacob, Anastasia, Andre, Kadin, Matthew, and Mackenzie
North Central High School Engineering Club, Spokane
Advisor: Ryan West
This solution is a prototype design for an on-site, space-efficient washing machine to quickly wash the masks of manufacturing workers who interact daily with a variety of chemicals. The team defined their problem statement based on interviews with contacts in the manufacturing industry, created a schematic, and defined machine specifications to meet the needs of a small manufacturing facility.
H.A.N.D.S.
Created by: Azeem
Northshore Middle School
H.A.N.D.S is a device that opens doors at restaurants, stores, and other high-traffic areas, and is linked to the use of hand sanitizer prior to entry and exit. Unless people trying to enter or exit the space use the hand sanitizer, the door will not open. This incentivizes people to keep their hands clean and reduces the risk of surface-borne germs. You can watch Azeem explain his project with a Lego model by clicking the Learn More button, and you can also download more information about H.A.N.D.S. at this link.
Teen Spaces for COVID Isolation
Created by: Cannon
Maplewood Parent Cooperative, Edmonds
This simple but functional Nano Project focuses on helping teens’ mental health during the pandemic. He proposed creating an outdoor place where teens can go, where there can be heat and open air covering, as a space for teens to maintain social distance but also share space as they do their homework or just hang out. Cannon’s solution stood out for its focus on inclusivity, including pairing social media notifications with an email thread that alerts students that a group is going to do a socially distant hangout (so that all students know they’re invited and no one is left out).
Homebody Business Plan
Created by: Anna
West Valley Junior High School, Yakima
Advisor: Jedidiah Walker
This detailed business plan imagines a non-profit organization that provides a short term shelter option to those experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. Recognizing that it is difficult to practice social distancing in many group shelters set-ups, Homebody offers people experiencing homelessness a job modifying shipping containers to serve as living spaces. The workers gain a paid job, training in construction skills, and ultimately get to live in the home they design.
Podcasts from Colville Junior High School
Created by: Rachel and Eliza; Cooper and Eva
Advisor: Robert Shaw
8th Grade Perspectives from Colville Junior High
Rachel and Eliza from Colville Junior High School recorded a podcast episode reflecting on the challenges and silver linings of online learning, and ideas for reopening schools. They emphasize that as schools reopen, practicing public health best practices like wearing masks and social distancing are critical. Additionally, they share ideas specific to their school system and building: leveraging their school’s bell system to coordinate movement of students between spaces, leveraging less used spaces in the building for lunch, staggering school schedules, and prioritizing COVID testing resources.
Cooper and Eva recorded a podcast episode to discuss the impact of COVID on the middle school experience. They discuss how they’ve experienced the big picture changes like remote learning and hybrid learning, along with specific changes that might not be on the radar of the general public but are noticeable changes to the experience of new middle schoolers. From missing friends who are in other hybrid cohorts to thinking about how to bring back the middle school milestone of having a locker for the first time, these two bring to life the perspective navigating the pandemic as a middle schoolers at Colville Junior High.