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WATCH: Burton nationally recognized through STEM Project

SALEM, Va. – 50 public middle and high schools are state winners in the “Samsung Solve for Tomorrow” National STEM Competition.

Burton Center for the Arts and Technology in Salem was selected as Virginia’s winner.

A prize of $12,000 and a Samsung Video Kit to showcase the students' proposed STEM solutions are on the way. The students designed a call box to help areas with poor cell service such as Carvin’s Cove, to help make emergency calls.

Students hope to expand into other recreation areas to keep them exciting and safe.

“The initial design was to place three of these call boxes at Carvin’s Cove to see how it works, to see what we need to tweak and change and then kind of expand it from there so our design team that designed the technology and the radio and all of that, they built it so it can be scaleable and placed anywhere,” Leila Ramey, a senior, said.

“We thought we wouldn’t have a chance with all the Northern Virginia schools and all their innovative solutions, but I knew that these kids and what they were doing, their passion, their stem expertise in their Roanoke Valley community involvement would be right there at the top so we were excited of what they accomplished,” Sarah Gerrol, Director for the Center of Engineering, said.

If successful Ramey says they would like to expand to Explore Park before tackling more popular areas such as the Blue Ridge Parkway.