School District of Waukesha, WI and student coders recognized on National STEM Day

BARRINGTON, Ill., Nov. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- National STEM Day is celebrated November 8^th to encourage students to pursue their interests in science, technology, engineering and math. The U.S. Labor Department has predicted that the 10 fastest growing occupations are STEM careers which supports the importance of early interest in STEM pursuits. Uncharted Learning, NFP supports STEM initiatives and has created a relevant mobile app curriculum, MobileMakersEdu (MME).  The MME program trains educators to teach Swift, the language used for iOS development. Furthermore, MME equips schools with resources to allow students to experience an authentic workplace coding environment.

MME, is offered in 51 schools throughout the US and Japan. The School District of Waukesha, Wisconsin, has made MME a strong component of their STEM offerings and a pathway to community college credit.  Students in this district are profoundly benefiting from this commitment. 

Sawyer Charles, senior at Waukesha West High School, developed an app using coding skills learned through the MME curriculum to encourage his classmates to participate in school activities. His app, SpiritCenter, tracks participation in student events. Students then earn points which are redeemed for rewards. The app went live in August on the App Store and currently has 200 users.

"My goal is to promote this app to other school districts, so they can also increase school spirit," Charles said.

Another student success is Jacob Verhoff who developed a gaming app with his teammate at Waukesha North High School.  Verhoff had previously taken classes in different programming languages but MME was his first experience using iOS coding. 

"This class was structured differently," Verhoff said. "We were practicing what we were learning in real time and it made it understandable."

Verhoff entered their gaming app in the MME "2018 Build Your Own App" international contest, judged by independent iOS developers and placed among the top three apps.

Through coding programs such as MME, schools provide students with skills to better prepare for advanced education in STEM fields of study and future success in STEM careers.  Uncharted Learning congratulates the School District of Waukesha, WI for their commitment to STEM and to Charles and Verhoff for their success in MME and coding successes.

SOURCE Uncharted Learning