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A Smart Phone App Developed By Girls From Buffalo High School Wins Congressional Award

Krista Sweckard
From left to right: Seren Chapin, Teaghen Sweckard, Georgia Wages, Shelbi Kovar, Addysen Sweckard

Developing an app for a phone is a cost-effective way of tackling everyday problems. Students at Buffalo High School wanted to help volunteers for Meals on Wheels and in the process won a Congressional award.

Meals on Wheels volunteers go to the Buffalo Senior Center to pick up their cooler and collect their binder that holds all the information about the people who need meals for the day. But handling a binder can be fussy even if you have someone helping you navigate. And there can be vital information that doesn't get updated in the binder. The club "Girls Who Code" fixed this issue by developing an application that displays directions, phone numbers, and any other notes about the recipient.

Mark Thoney is a Computer Science instructor at Sheridan Community College who helped the girls develop the app. He said the application helps the delivery drivers and overall logistics.

"Meals on Wheels can remove someone from a delivery for a day without having to print new sheets or make notes on paper and binders. And so all that can be tracked digitally," said Thoney.

He met with students in "Girls Who Code" from Buffalo High School and encouraged them to enter the Congressional App Challenge. They won the challenge for Wyoming this year.

Thoney said the girls developed the app and that clubs like this are becoming easier to set up.

"Students can work on real-world problems and build applications without having gone through post-secondary education," Thoney said. "And the tools that are available are often free, the resources are free. There are not raw materials that have to be purchased."

The girls who developed the app are Teaghen Sweckard, Addysen Sweckard, Shelbi Kovar, Georgia Wages, and Seren Chapin.

Taylar Dawn Stagner is a central Wyoming rural and tribal reporter for Wyoming Public Radio. She has degrees in American Studies, a discipline that interrogates the history and culture of America. She was a Native American Journalist Association Fellow in 2019, and won an Edward R. Murrow Award for her Modern West podcast episode about drag queens in rural spaces in 2021. Stagner is Arapaho and Shoshone.
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