Middle school students participate in AppJamboree Showcase

On Wednesday, May 24, the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District (PYLUSD) hosted the AppJamboree Spring 2023 Showcase Finale at Valencia High School in Placentia. Middle school students from all of the district’s sites participated.

AppJam+, an initiative of Dreams for Schools, paired PYLUSD students with college mentors from Computer Science and Engineering fields in order to expose them to mobile app development and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) career pathways.

For ten weeks leading up to the AppJamboree Showcase Finale, college mentors from local universities worked with PYLUSD students during after-school programming sessions. Forming teams of 3-5 students, the students utilized AppInventor to create a STEM-related mobile app designated for a K-12 audience. The students’ key takeaways were computer science fundamentals, engineering principles and technical skills, app development cycle, interpersonal skills, thinking creatively, reasoning with logic, and learning collaboration skills.

To begin the showcase finale, attendees browsed students’ poster boards and tested out their mobile apps on tablets. The teams had the opportunity to show more in-depth details about their apps to contest judges, as well as those in attendance, before presenting.

Special guests were in attendance including Superintendent Dr. Alex Cherniss, district and school administrators, and students’ families and friends for this technology-filled fun event.

“It was so inspiring to see the creativity and technical expertise of our PYL middle school students come together to produce such remarkable results. I have no doubt that their mobile app development skills will continue to flourish, and I look forward to witnessing their future successes in years to come. We can’t thank Dreams for Schools enough for their partnership,” shared Dr. Shelley Spessard, Director of Student Achievement and Support.

Following an impressive evening of STEM-based mobile app presentations, teams were awarded top accolades and prizes. To learn more about AppJam+, please visit www.appjamplus.org.