(Akron) – Harrison Rothschild, a sophomore at Copley High School, Kristian Chandler, a Senior at John R Buchtel CLC, Trevor Kiehl, a sophomore at National Inventors Hall of Fame® STEM High School and Zarriah Sweeney, a senior at John Adams College Careers Academy won the 2021 TECH CORPS Hackathon sponsored by AT&T and held at The University of Akron on Saturday, November 6. The team’s app provides a platform where individuals can find online therapy professionals in their area. The app also offers chatrooms, hotlines and social media posts for individuals going through similar situations.
During the TECH CORPS Hackathon, students learned how to use a mobile app development tool and received support and guidance from technology professionals from the community. The students were tasked with developing a mobile app that solved a real-world problem. National Executive Director, Lisa M. Chambers explained, “After 19 months of living through a global pandemic, we chose the theme ‘Coming Together’ and were so pleased with how the students embraced the challenge by creating apps that could truly bring people together.”
The TECH CORPS Hackathon is a statewide competition held in-person in Akron, Columbus and Zanesville. More than 60 high school students from all over the state were part of the 12-hour event that culminated with the students’ presentation of their app.
The team was on their app’s functionality, design and relevance as well as their overall presentation. The judging panel was comprised of area technology professionals from Avient, Ernst & Young and The J.M. Smucker Company.
Each teammate won $200 and will be recognized at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday, December 8 during Computer Science Education Week.