During the summer, our College 4 Careers (C4C) program presented an innovative program at the Opportunity Hub (OHUB) that stressed to students the importance of creating products that solve actual, real-world problems. We’re very excited that Ariana and Latavia (pictured above in the center), sophomores at Tri Cities High School, reached the finals with their unique jewelry collection.
Dismayed by statistics on the number of children who go missing each year, the two students decided to focus on a way to combat the problem by making missing children easier to find.
Their solution: jewelry—such as earrings, necklaces and bracelets—equipped with GPS devices that track the child wearing it and an app that shows their location. The students had learned that often the first thing an abductor does is take away a child’s phone. They wanted to create a way for children to be tracked using something that wouldn’t be obvious as a tracking device.”
Ariana and Latavia, who call their product “Hide & Seek,” worked closely with Chuck Barlow, the Community Manager at OHub, and other local business people to make their idea a reality. Through the process, they and the other students in the program learned how to create a business model, present ideas, and design and build a prototype. They also used the Google Applications suite for coding, app development, and media production.
“The app development class was interesting,” said Latavia. “It really helped me with my confidence and professionalism. After the classes we have had meetings and events about launching our app.”
Ariana agreed. “My experience with the app development class was a very educational journey,” she said. “I actually learned a lot in the short time period that we had to work. It gave me something to think about and actually looked forward to do. I loved it and I am now in the process of launching my first app.”
The girls’ work earned them first place in the Future Tank pitch competition, which was modeled after the Shark Tank TV show—students presented their concepts to industry professionals who determined which ones should move forward. Ariana and Latavia are slated to receive mentorship support from SOSSI (Saving Our Sons & Sisters International), who ran the app class at OHub.