- December 24, 2024
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Team Click: Teju Vegi, Annabel Kaye, Sage Peterson and Owen Bayley, from Stanton Preparatory College, with their coach, UNF Professor Stephanie Hooper. Photo by Sierra Williams
Team Project Rethink: Austin Weeks, Stanley Gatzek, Gabriel Ramirez and Stephen Sherman, from Matanzas High School. Coached by UNF Professor Diane Denslow. Photo by Sierra Williams
Team Click: Teju Vegi, Annabel Kaye, Sage Peterson and Owen Bayley, from Stanton Preparatory College with their coach and the MedNexus judges. Photo by Sierra Williams
Team Project Rethink: Austin Weeks, Stanley Gatzek, Gabriel Ramirez and Stephen Sherman, from Matanzas High School, with the MedNexus judges. Photo by Sierra Williams
Remmika Battles, Sthefany Cruz, Leela Robinson, and Ethan Tincher from Matanzas High School. Photo by Sierra Williams
Team Pursuit of Excellence: Cheryl Collins, Abigail Taylor, Kameran Gordon and Kendall Bovino from Flagler Palm Coast High School. Photo by Sierra Williams
Sage Peterson, Teju Vegi, Annabel Kaye and Owen Bayley, from Stanton Preparatory College. Photo by Sierra Williams
Team Project Rethink: Austin Weeks, Stanley Gatzek, Gabriel Ramirez and Stephen Sherman from Matanzas High School. Photo by Sierra Williams
The MedNexus judges: Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin, Flagler County Education Foundation Executive Director Teresa Rizzo, Director of Market Business Development MariJo Cyzycki and Rise Above the Violence, Inc. Executive Director Carmen Gray. Photo by Sierra Williams
A team of high schoolers from Stanton College Preparatory School in Jacksonville won first place at the University of North Florida and Palm Coast 2024 MedNexus Innovation Challenge.
Second place went to Team Project Rethink, from Matanzas High School. The first place winners each won $1,000 scholarships, while the second place team members won $750 each. Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin, one of the judges, also announced that the two remaining teams would also receive $500 scholarships.
Team Click's members are Teju Vegi, Annabel Kaye, Sage Peterson and Owen Bayley, and they were coached by UNF Professor Stephanie Hooper. Bayley and his teammates all said it felt amazing to win.
"I feel gifted that we got to do this experience and take home $1,000 worth of scholarship money," Bayley said.
The presentations were hosted at the Palm Coast Community Center on April 11. UNF partnered with Palm Coast, Flagler County Public Schools, the Flagler County Education Foundation and the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce for the final event.
In total, 35 teams from high schools across the St. Johns, Flagler and Volusia Counties region submitted proposals for this year’s theme of social media addiction in adolescents.
The four finalist teams were chosen to present and compete for the first- and second-place scholarships. Three of the final four teams — Team P.U.M.P., Team Project Rethink and Team Pursuit of Excellence — are from Flagler County’s two high schools.
MedNexus Associate Dean Dr. Julie Merten said the topic did not have anything to with the recent Florida legislation passed in March that prohibits teens under the age of 14 from having social media accounts. Merten said chose the topic months in advance of the MedNexus challenge.
“For me, it was just so relevant,” she said.
The four student teams worked closes with their UNF faculty coaches on their strategies, which outlined their approach to treating or preventing the addiction, the financial costs of implementing their idea and how they would measure success.
Stanton College's Team Click presented a design for an app that would monitor and limit how much time a person was spending on social media platforms. Team Click member Vegi said, Click adds a "point" system for completing certain tasks, adding a competitive, positive reinforcement element.
That motivational aspect is what makes their design standout from other, existing apps that just limit time, Kaye said.
"How our app is different is it is, like, customized to your interest," Kaye said. "So you can if you're interested in music, maybe you can learn an instrument."
Team Project Rethink chose to implement a strategy that was social-media based, taking advantage of the teenager's addiction. The other two teams both presented ideas on implementing after-school programs that prohibit cell phone use but instead involve teens in in-person activities.
