Miami-Dade County Public Schools: Two Student Teams From Alonzo & Tracy Mourning Senior High Win Big At FTX Charity Hackathon

Press release from Miami-Dade County Public Schools:

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Two student teams from Miami-Dade
County Public Schools’ (M-DCPS) Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High competed
against three other teams – two from Broward County and one from Palm Beach County
– by pitching their best ideas to improve mental and physical health in the FTX Charity Hackathon, on Sunday. Both teams were coached by Social Studies Department Chair and the
2019 M-DCPS Teacher of the Year, Molly Winters Diallo, who turned the competition
into a class project.

Team “Social Seniors” won the judges’
vote and tied for first place with a Broward team to win $500,000 in startup
money. The prize will help them put their mental health tech idea – an initiative that
pairs high school seniors with senior citizens to bridge tech training and
community service – on the market. This program
will allow participants to cultivate meaningful relationships, learn life
skills, and create lasting memories that will benefit both parties’ mental
health and wellness. Team members include 11th-graders Anthony Vega, Lucas
Caicedo, Andres Gonzalez and Michael McKenzie.

Team “Social Seniors” won the judges’
vote and tied for first place with a Broward team to win $500,000 in startup
money. The prize will help them put their mental health tech idea – an initiative that
pairs high school seniors with senior citizens to bridge tech training and
community service – on the market. This program
will allow participants to cultivate meaningful relationships, learn life
skills, and create lasting memories that will benefit both parties’ mental
health and wellness. Team members include 11th-graders Anthony Vega, Lucas
Caicedo, Andres Gonzalez and Michael McKenzie. Team “Hear Me Out” captured
the audience vote and was awarded $50,000 to help them realize their music therapy
program, which pairs high school and middle school students in an after-school
program of bonding, with instruments and digital music apps. The team members, Megan Pierre, Kaley Reinhartz, Alannah
Williams, Vallentina Oliveira and Andres Bonilla, are all juniors. All members of
the top five teams were also awarded $15,000 in scholarships. The panel of celebrity judges included Kevin
O’Leary from TV’s “Shark Tank,” Miami HEAT basketball star Udonis Haslem,
former major league baseball player David Ortiz and comedienne Whitney
Cummings. For the most up-to-date information,
please download the Dadeschools Mobile App to your iPhone or Android
device. Follow us on Twitter @mdcps and @suptdotres, on Instagram @miamischools and @suptdotres, and on Facebook at MiamiSchools. TOP CAPTION: WINNERS: pictured left-to-right: Alonzo
and
Tracy Mourning Senior High School Assistant Principal Eddie Medina;
Tracy Mourning; 2019 Teacher of the Year and Coach Molly Winters
Diallo; Team1d: Michael McKenzie, Anthony Vega, Andres
Gonzalez and Lucas Caicedo; and Chief Human Capital Officer Dr. Dawn M. Baglos.

This press release was produced by Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.