Abbey Mollitor (Staff Writer for DeWitt High School's THE PROWLER) wrote the following article (the article has been shortened for brevity):
The Next Bright Idea is when students have a part in making the world a better place. It is an idea competition where college and high school students submit their ideas to www.nextbrightidea.com.
The ideas then go through a voting process and the judges pick the top five finalists. These finalists meet at the Hannah Community Center located in East Lansing, Michigan to present their ideas to the judges.
This year there are two finalists from DeWitt High School; seniors, Ashley Sonefeld and Taylar Miller (DeWitt Creativity Group supporters). Sonefeld's idea is eliminating backpacks and introducing net-books whereas Miller's idea is a Lansing urban farm.
"These netbooks would be small devices that students could use to carry all their textbooks in one place," said Sonefeld. "Introduce e-readers to classrooms and get ahead of the game," said Sonefeld as she ended her presentation.
Miller grew up eating Nutritious foods, and she realized that because organic food is so expensive, not everyone can afford it. This triggered the idea of a Lansing urban farm. America has the highest obesity rate and statistics say it is going to go up.
"Change must be made. It will boost the Lansing area economy and change the health of our community," said Miller.
After five outstanding presentations by the finalists, it was time to pick this year's Next Bright Idea winner. Judges said, "It was a tough decision , we were arguing, " but they finally came to a decision.
They awarded first place to Jill Wamhoff, for her idea of a self-sustaining gym, she received an iPad. Second place went to Sonefeld who was rewarded a laptop. The three remaining contestants, Zach Hebel, Bryn Williams, and Miller, each received a $100.00 gift card to Best Buy...
The DeWitt Creativity Group is proud of all of the youth who participated in the Next Bright Idea competition. Many thanks to LEAP, Inc. and others who support the innovative ideas of Lansing area high school students! The DCG strongly recommends high school students participate in this much needed event.