Peace of Mind app earns Edwardsville student a national nod
Jordan Schaeffer, a senior student at Edwardsville High School, recently won first place for his “Peace of Mind” app in the US Congressional App Challenge for Illinois Congressional District #13.
According to the Congressional App Challenge website, each year the Congressional Internet Caucus launches the annual CAC to challenge students in their districts to create and submit original apps.
“As U.S. Representatives, we publicly recognize our winning teams, and each winning app may be displayed on the United States Capitol for one year. ACC’s mission is to inspire, include, and innovate efforts around teaching STEM, coding, and computer science,” according to the website.
“Peace of Mind” is a virtual reality app that transports the user to a place of calm and tranquility through the use of a VR headset, according to Shaeffer.
“I drew inspiration for my app from times in my life when I was in certain places and felt an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility,” Shaeffer said. “I wanted to find a way to harness those feelings in a portable form.”
Shaeffer said it took about two months to build the app.
“There’s a lot of planning, trying, failing, and learning in creating an app,” Shaeffer said. “It was my first time programming all around, and I hope to use the skills I learned with this app in the future for other projects.”
Although Shaeffer has always had an interest in the world of programming, he said this recent project sparked “a burning passion.”
Shaeffer discovered his achievement when he received an email congratulating him on winning first place. He said when he entered the CAC, he said he had no expectation of success.
“It was more something to do for fun and a challenge,” Shaeffer said. “I was extremely shocked and surprised each time I found out that I had won.”
“Jordan is a wonderful young man and I know he will succeed no matter what path he chooses,” said Shaeffer business and applied technology professor Dene Schickedanz. “He’s an absolute joy to have in the classroom and adds so much to our tech environment.”
Schickedanz said students in her class have the option to enter the CAC for extra credit. Four EHS students have won the CAC since 2016.
“I’m very proud of the students and their successes in this event,” Schickedanz said. “As a tech teacher, I don’t really focus on where our kids fit in, I just want as many submissions as possible and a genuine interest in building all the apps.”
Schickedanz said students in his class have the autonomy to create any type of app that interests them. One of his favorite aspects of the CAC is the lack of limits on what students can create.