Students from Marina Orth Rural Schools Win 4 of 5 Awards at Social Power Innovation Fair in Medellìn

Marina Orth Foundation students swept the Social Power Innovation competition in Medellìn. Hosted by Mesa TI, a coalition of private school leaders, the event featured students from throughout the city and challenged them to use technology to solve problems in their local communities.

Social Power Innovation focused on highlighting and expanding technology’s role in classrooms in Colombia, especially on how tech can be used to alleviate issues in the school’s community. The hosts invited students grades 9 to 11 to present how their classes use technology.

Marina Orth rural school students from 10th and 11th grades of La Aurora and La Rivera schools presented projects from their robotics clubs designed to solve problems in their vulnerable communities, such as inventing an electric clipper for local flower farmers to help prevent back pain from bending over to cut flowers. The judges were so impressed by our students’ homegrown problem solving abilities and sense of social responsibility that they awarded four of the five prizes to our foundation students who competed with private schools with far more resources.