(1:00) What school is like for Esme
Esme has attended the same private girls school for her entire K-12 education. She says that for most of her education it was a typical school and very traditional where teachers asked them to memorize things and copy notes from the board. A few years ago, her school underwent major changes implementing a makerspace and a whole new philosophy that encourages students to be more creative thinkers and problem solvers.
(2:52) Think outside the box
Teachers at Esme’s school encourage students to find their own answers and guide them along the way, rather than telling them something is right or wrong. Esme participates in a lot of project based learning and that’s how she came to work on creating an app to deter catfishing online as part of an extracurricular activity with her classmates.
(3:45) What is catfishing?
Catfishing is when someone tricks you into a relationship online by using a fictional or stolen persona.
(4:44) The process
Esme and her classmates defined the problem, researched existing possible solutions, and then got to work designing the app and trying to imagine what would be needed to solve this real-world problem.
(7:10) A supportive environment
It wasn’t just one teacher that helped Esme and her friends, but a group of dedicated educators that all worked together to support and mentor their students. They incorporated pretty much all of the academic disciplines into this one project.
(8:30) What’s next for Esme?
The classmates are still programming and testing the app and are hoping to get people to download it from the app store and give them feedback so they can keep improving it.
Esme is already dreaming up new projects to work on after this one. She plans to address the problem of girls being drugged at parties by creating a tool to test the pH of a drink.
She hopes to attend university in the United States next year and credits her creativity to her school and her teachers for always telling her that she can change the world.