BRIDGEPORT — Diniah Dean recently checked her email to find a big surprise.
After the initial shock wore away, the De La Salle teacher read the message again and confirmed the news:
The seven girls in her Web Development class had beaten out more than 1,200 contestants in the Verizon Innovation App Challenge to win Best in State for an app concept they developed called “Furry Friend Finder.”
Dean screamed with delight. Her coworkers rushed in to check if she was OK.
She was more than OK: “I could not believe it,” Dean said.
The win came with a $5,000 prize for the school and a computer tablet for each of the girls in the class.
“It was very exciting,” said Nicole Mildner, a 16-year-old junior in the class. “We didn’t expect to win.”
The concept for “Furry Friend Finder” popped up when the girls noticed a lost pet poster near their school.
“A lot of people obviously have this problem," Sofia Rodriguez said.
Why not develop a portal where pet owners can share information about their lost pets?
The app would allow users to post pictures of lost pets on a public board, where other app users will be able to spot a lost pet’s owner. The app could also feature a direct messaging system for pet owners to immediately reach out to each other.
The girls are now competing for the App Challenge Fan Favorite Award.
The team with the most votes gets an additional $15,000, a chance to work with tech experts from MIT to build the app and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Technology Student Association conference in Nashville, Tennessee in June.
To vote for “Furry Friend Finder,” you can text FFF2 to 22333.
The class includes Madison Coppola (Garfield Ridge), Yulin Deng (Bridgeport), Gabriela Hernandez (Cicero), Nicole Mildner (Canaryville), Isabella Rodriguez (Archer Heights), Sofia Rodriguez (Archer Heights) and Amy Wu Feng (Bridgeport).
Dean said the girls did all the developing on their own. The teacher just submitted the application for her students.
“I was literally just guiding them,” she said.
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