WEST JORDAN, Utah — Students at the Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers (JATC) north campus are in the running for a national honor.
The web development students are finalists in Samsung’s “Solve for Tomorrow” competition, which asks entrants to develop technology that can create change in the community.
The JATC students built a prototype of a safety app that can be used in case of an emergency.
“Our app is designed as a safety app for schools,” said Jaxon Smith, a senior on the team. “Prototyping in Adobe XD and going through the user interface.”
The college-level web development class gives students the skills to succeed in a professional setting after graduation.
“High school students can leave high school with the skills and be ready to get an entry-level position in making websites and web design,” said Melinda Mansouri, who teaches the class.
In the fall, the students used their skills to build the safety app to enter the competition.
If an emergency like a fire were to break out in the school building the app would help track the location of students to inform rescuers if they were in or out of the building.
“A student would walk through a door and a beep would go off,” said senior Aiden Maher. “It would say whether they checked into a classroom or not.”
The app is still in its early stages of development. In addition to building the app, students are working through any location privacy issues that could arise.
Once complete, they are confident their technology will have an impact beyond their classroom.
“I think this technology can change the world,” Maher said. “It will make schools a lot safer. It will give parents and teachers peace of mind. In our day and age, I think it's something that is highly valuable.”
The team will learn if it advances in the competition later this month.
