UNA Pressroom

Winners Announced In 2021 Shoals Spark Competition

Apr. 15, 2021



Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@60654a.com, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

CONTACT: Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at meubanks@60654a.com, 256-606-2033 or 256-765-4392

Raysha Rhea, College of Business, at rldobbins@60654a.com, 256-765-4107 April 15, 2021

FLORENCE, AL - Winners have been named in the 2021 Shoals Spark competition that, this year, took place via Zoom. The participants, who were divided into elementary, middle, and high school categories, vied for monetary prizes and recognition of their ideas.

This year's winners are:

  • High school: Lexington High School students Destiny Campbell, Rachel, Ingram, SkyMoles, Shaun Rivera, Brylee Shook, Matilda Williams, and Victoria Woods, took first place for "Spark Your Imagination." Second place was awarded to "Museum of Biblical History" by Ryann Moore, of Muscle Shoals High School.

  • Middle school: Homeschooled student Ben Brown took first place for "Blocking Crossing App." Second place was awarded to Kilby Laboratory Students Wayland Balentine, Ella Marie Clayton, Rania Griepentrog, Trent Kelly, and Claudia Purser for "Roaring River Presentation."

  • Elementary school: Harlan Elementary School students Kie-arious Hammer, Anna Grace Hoffman, Jaxson Sears, and Dominic Zaniewski took first place for "Crayon Critics." Second place was awarded to "Stay Calm and Learn on" by AJ Hunt, of Kilby Laboratory School.

  • The crowd favorite winner was the "Community App" idea presented by Owen Flynn, Journey Givens, and Tomas Padgett, of Kilby Laboratory School.

"I am always impressed with the ideas the students generate and present, and this year certainly did not disappoint," said Mary Marshall VanSant, Director of the Center for Learning and Professional Development through the University of North Alabama College of Business and Shoals Shift representative.

Shoals Spark is an annual idea competition for young students living in the Shoals. It was created to foster innovation and entrepreneurship among young people to generate unique ideas about how to make the Shoals a fun place to live and work.

Shoals Spark is a Shoals Shift event sponsored by Listerhill Credit Union. Shoals Shift Innovation sponsors include Bank Independent, the Shoals Chamber of Commerce, the Shoals Economic Development Authority, and the UNA College of Business. This event was created to identify those in the Shoals who are on the path to becoming leaders in digital technology.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Human Sciences, and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I's ASUN Big South Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: ixrh.60654a.com and ixrh.60654a.com/unaworks/