- Sand Castle Days Continued Despite Unexpected Weather
- Ready for District
- Discussion of Garbage Dumpster Rates, Agreements Between State & City on Highway Regulations, and More
- 31st Annual Shrimp Cook-Off is Right Around the Corner
- LFHS Cross Country
- Local Company is Helping People With a Mission in Mind
- Valley Native Bringing Advanced Oncology Services To UT Health RGV Cancer and Surgery Center
- Los Fresnos Annual Cook-Off Is Right Around The Corner
- Los Fresnos Falcons Hold Meet and Greet for the Community
- Los Fresnos Locals Open Up a New Business in Town
Resaca Middle School Best in Region
- Updated: February 21, 2014
App Designers Honored for Work on Hello Navi
(Left to right) Resaca Middle School teacher Maggie Bolado, student Janessa Leija, Caitlyn Gonzalez, Grecia Cano, Principal Asael Ruvalcaba, visually impaired student Andres Salas, Jacqueline Garcia Torres, Kayleen Gonzalez, Cassandra Baquero, Dean of Instruction Leticia Rodriguez, and Assistant Principal Carlos Lainez.
Resaca Middle School Principal Asael Ruvalcaba was all smiles as he recognized six students and their teacher sponsor for the design of an app to highlight the Los Fresnos CISD Board of Trustees meeting Monday night.
Resaca earned a Best in Region Award in the Second Annual Verizon Innovative App Challenge. Inspired by their visually-impaired friend Andres Salas, a group of six Resaca Middle School girls has made their school proud.
The contest challenges middle- and high-school student teams to come up with a mobile application concept to meet a need in their school or community. The national program is aimed to boosting students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Ruvalcaba remembered when he interviewed Maggie Bolado for a sixth grade Science teacher position.
“One of the questions I asked her was about technology,” Ruvalcaba told the board. “She said she would definitely implement technology in the classroom. And boy, she has.”
Using Twitter, Bolado was able to discover the Verizon Innovative App Challenge. She told counselors at Resaca about the idea, and the counselors identified students interested in the project.
Soon, Bolado had five potential teams of students. “It took a lot of time and effort by the students and Ms. Bolado,” Ruvalcaba said. “They worked on this project a lot after school and on Saturday mornings.”
Bolado said students had to come up with the concept, which was that we needed to identify a problem or issue on campus or in our community that the app would benefit.
She asked community leaders to speak to students about ideas. One speaker was Charlotte Smith, Andres’ mobility specialist from the Region I Education Service Center in Edinburg. She talked to the girls who eventually conceptualized the Hello Navi app.
“We met three or four times a week for two months brainstorming and getting their essay ready,” Bolado said. They submitted their paperwork to Verizon in December.
Hello Navi – short for navigation – is designed to help a visually impaired person navigate inside a building. It will integrate digital tools such as a compass, scanner, VoiceOver, optical braille readers and Google indoor navigation technology.
Early in January, Resaca was notified that it had received Best in State award. Last week, it received one of 24 Best of Region Awards, and a $5,000 cash grant to be applied to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs at the school.
The app itself hasn’t yet been created. Bolado and two colleagues will now participate in an online course, “Teaching App Creation with MIT App Inventor,” taught by app development experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab Center for Mobile Learning.
A live virtual presentation was conducted Tuesday, after which the students could win one of eight national honors.
“This morning, we interviewed for the final process. What these kids are doing is unbelievable,” Ruvalcaba said. “They are going to change the world. They will be an influence, not only for our students, but for humankind.”