Students at Wilkerson win $10,000 prize for anti-bullying concept

A team of seventh-graders at Malachi Wilkerson Middle School in East Thomas recently won $10,000 in the Altec Innovation Challenge, an annual competition that encourages students in Birmingham City Schools to solve real-world problems using STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — concepts.

Their winning concept was an anti-bullying app with music, games, chat and a way to report bullying, according to a spokesperson for the sponsor, Altec Inc.

The students, who received their check in January, will use the money to work with the Capstone IT development team at The University of Alabama to develop and launch their app in 2019. The team members are Velina Bell, Amber Hicks, Robert Williams Jr., Nakiya Perdue, Lamiya Farley, Jarez Cook and Cameron Harris.

A total of 10 teams from eight Birmingham schools presented their problems and proposed solutions to a panel of six judges, which included representatives from Altec and such organizations as Birmingham Business Alliance and Innovate Bham.

The Wilkerson students focused on bullying because they’ve all been affected by it, according to their teacher, Elizabeth Bieri.

“And it’s a nationwide problem that impacts students in so many ways,” Bieri said.

The app will eventually be implemented at Wilkerson, then at other schools, according to Bieri.