Students, faculty and staff from Nicholson Elementary are still enjoying the perks from being named one of the grand prize winners in the 2015 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest, winning an estimated $138,000 in technology and cash for the school.

Nicholson Elementary teacher Maureen Pollitz, along with high school student Anna Lander from the Pearl River County robotics club, showed off their prize-winning robot at the International Consumer of Electronics show (CES 2016) in Las Vegas, Nevada on Jan. 6 and 7.

“This was the first time that Samsung has taken the winners to the electronic showcase. We were presenting our project as well as the other winners’ projects,” Pollitz said. Adding, “People were surprised that our project came from sixth-graders, with the help of high school students.”

The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest encourages teachers and students nationwide to solve real-world issues using STEM applications, which include science, technology, engineering and math, according to samsung.com.

Last year, Pollitz, along with her gifted sixth-grade students and high school students from the Pearl River County robotics team, built the robot designed to survey Picayune’s storm drains in order to identify potential problems. Throughout the process, students worked with the city’s Public Works Director Eric Morris and NASA personnel to find a solution. The school was named a national winner in April 2015 and received technology to be used in the classroom, including Chrome Books.

Pollitz said the students have since then made improvements on the robot and plan to put it in use in the near future.

“It’s important to give students the tools they need so they can succeed and it’s important that we stress STEM education because that’s our future,” Pollitz said.

The school attempted, once again, to earn the top prize in the 2016 contest.

In November 2015, the school was named a state finalist in the 2016 contest after Nicholson Elementary teacher Olive Zenon, along with her three sixth-grade classes, submitted a project focusing on how the shade from trees affects playground activities.

While they didn’t make it any further in the contest, Pollitz said the school will continue to “enter into contests in the future and are open to any opportunity that comes our way.”