Cape High students take new app national

Three Cape High students have earned national distinction for creating an app to help parents understand expectations for their kindergarten and pre-K children.

Last fall, sophomore Hannah Bieler, senior Morgan Catts and junior Jessica Woolsey brainstormed about a project to submit for an upcoming Educators Rising contest in Delaware.

“We knew we wanted to do something for younger kids in the school,” said Hannah, now a rising junior. “A lot of parents in Cape don't know the requirements for kindergarten readiness, so we made a way for them to get the information.”

The app – short for application, a program that can be used on a smartphone – will eventually be accessed through a quick response code that a user can scan with a smartphone to open up information. For now, until they finish the app, Jessica said the QR code they created sends users to the Cape Henlopen School District and Great State Delaware webpages.

Their goal is to have it ready by spring 2017 to help parents who are registering their children for kindergarten understand expectations. The finished app will include games for young students to play, giving parents and teachers an idea of a student's strengths, Jessica said.

“Creating the app will be a lot of work, but it'll be worth it,” Jessica said.

The requirements for children to enter kindergarten and pre-K aren't particularly stringent – potty-training is probably the most important one, Hannah said. Other pluses include socialization and some recognition of colors, numbers and letters.

“It's meant for children ages 3 to 5, and it's helpful for teachers,” said Jessica.

Already, the girls have circulated information to pre-K facilities, kindergartens and supermarkets where parents can scan the square, QR codes for information.

In December, the girls won the Delaware competition, which qualified them for the national Educators Rising competition held at Boston University. They competed against 30 groups during the four-day national competition.

“I didn't expect it to get this big. I didn't expect to go to nationals,” Hannah said.

And when they got to nationals, she said, she didn't expect to win.

“It was really nerve-racking,” she said. “They announced the third-place winner and then the second-place winner, and we didn't think we'd win.”

But they did. They received a trophy and certificate, and a check for $100.

The competition is meant to attract more young people to the teaching profession. Cape High teacher and Educators Rising advisor Linda Marvel said she was proud of the work the girls accomplished.

“This team of future educators researched, prepared, and presented as a cohesive group on behalf of Cape Henlopen an innovative strategy to enhance teaching and learning,” she said.

Hannah said she's considering a career in education, and she enjoyed the experience and the attention the award has brought.

“Winning was the best part,” she said.