[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 138 (Monday, August 20, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          RECOGNIZIGING THE STUDENTS OF ASHLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL

  Mr. McConnell. Mr. President, today it is my privilege to 
congratulate the students of Ashland Middle School, in Boyd County, who 
recently won the national ``Solve for Tomorrow'' competition for their 
work to help communities and emergency responders address our Nation's 
opioid epidemic. This prestigious award, presented live on national 
television, comes after months of hard work, collaboration, and a drive 
to help their community face this pressing issue.
  The competition, which promotes science, technology, engineering, 
art, and math--STEAM--disciplines, challenges students to identify an 
important cause and to create change in their school. After speaking 
with Ashland Middle School's public resource officer, these bright 
innovators chose to develop a technological solution to help first 
responders safely collect hazardous needles discarded by drug users, 
which often carry and can transmit dangerous diseases. Employing a 3-D 
printer and working through multiple prototypes, the students created a 
hollow, molded plastic box, which can allow first responders to pick up 
the needles without putting themselves in danger.
  As a prize for their innovation, these students won $150,000 of 
technology for their school. They also won a trip to our Nation's 
Capital, where I had the privilege to meet with them and personally 
congratulate them on their successes.
  Our Nation is gripped by a worsening opioid crisis, and we all have a 
responsibility to help keep our communities safe. These young students 
are using their creativity and technological ingenuity to do just that. 
I join with the entire Ashland community in congratulating the 
following inspirational students: Caleb Campbell, James Campbell, 
Aubree Hay, Eric Billups, Connor Calhoun, Ethan Goodrich, Liam 
Ferguson, Cade Parlato, and Shaela Taylor. I would also like to express 
my gratitude to their advisers who provided guidance throughout this 
process: Michael Polley, Linda Calhoun, William Ferguson, Mark Harmon, 
and John Leistner.
  The Daily Independent in Ashland, KY, recently published an article 
about these students, and I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

              [From the Daily Independent, Apr. 12, 2018]

        Ashland Welcomes Winning Technology Students With Parade

                            (By Mike James)

       The Ashland Middle School students who won tens of 
     thousands of dollars' worth of high-tech equipment for their 
     school capped their triumphant return Thursday with a parade 
     and the acclaim of other students throughout the district.
       The students, whose first-prize winnings included $150,000 
     worth of hardware and software for their school courtesy of 
     competition sponsor Samsung Inc., also learned they'd won the 
     community choice portion of the competition, which brings 
     another $20,000 worth of technology to the school.
       And a corporate representative told the students after the 
     parade each of them would receive a computer tablet of their 
     own.
       The parade, organized on the fly after Samsung made the Big 
     Reveal Wednesday on national TV, took the students in a bus 
     escorted by police and firefighters past each school in the 
     district, where students turned out with banners and 
     applause.
       The students, members of the Student Technology Leadership 
     Program and a 3D design and modeling class, were among three 
     first-prize winners in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 
     competition, which challenges teams from middle schools 
     around the country to identify and find solutions for 
     community problems.
       The Ashland students invented and built prototypes of a 
     device police and emergency workers can use to pick up 
     potentially dangerous hypodermic syringes, and developed a 
     website and database of information about discarded 
     hypodermics first responders and the public can use.
       The community choice award was based on social media 
     voting. Ashland supporters took the AMS team to an early lead 
     in Facebook votes, a lead it maintained throughout the 
     competition.
       Samsung representatives made the snap decision to fly to 
     Ashland for the parade after seeing the community support, 
     said corporate citizenship director Ann Woo. ``We saw the 
     power of your community in the voting . . . when we heard 
     they'd organized a parade for you, we thought what better 
     place to announce the community support award,'' she said.
       ``We wanted to see the community that rallied behind you 
     all year . . . we wanted to see that and thank them,'' she 
     said.
       The parade was a fitting celebration because the 
     competition was a community project, said Mike Polley, who 
     teaches the 3D design and modeling class. The community gets 
     behind sports; why should this be different . . . the 
     community got behind them when they saw the drive and the 
     compassiion and the commitment of the kids.
       ``I hope it's a ripple effect and more and more kids want 
     to have that kind of drive.''

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