Coders Take on Local Health Crises in Hackathon

The winning app, by sophomore Sawyer Wizemann and seniors Lucie Lim and Fatoumata Camara, helps shoppers find sustainable fashion.

By FLORA FENG and IFAZ HOWLADER

The team behind “Steady Shopping” emerged victorious at this year’s Wendy Menard Hackathon on January 23.

The winning team, which includes sophomore Sawyer Wizemann and seniors Lucie Lim and Fatoumata Camara, created an app that makes buying sustainable fashion easier by locating nearby thrift stores, offering a catalog of sustainable fashion websites, and informing the user on which brands to avoid. The app allows users to shift through stores by clothing style and size, with price matching.

“This was my first time entering the competition,” said Lim. “I wanted to see what it was like. I believe this was a good opportunity for me to get more experience in the computer science field.”

Second-place went to the team behind “Covid-19 Survival,” which includes senior Xinyi Huang, sophomore Nancy Chen, Tiffany Zhu, and Arely Martinez Garcia, as did the award for best presentation. The first and second place winners received prizes donated by the Midwood Parents Association.

Subject matter experts will meet with this year's first-place team to discuss ways to improve their project. Then they will make a final presentation and be judged by the CS4All judges in Round 2, the borough-wide hackathon, this spring.

This year’s hackathon, the third annual, was named after Wendy Menard, a beloved Computer Science and Algebra teacher who passed away last year after a battle with cancer.

“To me, she was really helpful with my learning,” said Vannessa Wong ‘21, one of Ms. Menard’s former students. “I'm not good at math at all, and she was willing to stay an hour after school to help students.”

Ms. Menard had previously helped serve as a judge in the hackathon.

The coordinator of this year’s competition, AP Computer Science A teacher Mr. Samuel Keener, said, “It was also really tough to not have Ms. Menard with us this year. Her enthusiasm for the hackathon made it such a fun event the previous two years, which is why we decided to name the event after her.”

This year’s hackathon was held virtually during Regents Week. Eight teams took part, attempting to develop a product that would solve a health crisis in the community in a week. Teams surveyed their communities to find out which health conditions needed the most attention and to gauge interest in app ideas.

Students could sign up as a set group of two to five, or individually, to be placed in a group at random. Joining was free.

“You didn't have to have any experience with coding,” said Ms. Patricia Lazo, the assistant principal of mathematics. “You might be really good at writing. You might not be able to make an app, but you might be able to do graphic design. Even though some of our teams are friends already, some of our teams met each other for the first time at the hackathon, and it was amazing to see.”

Six judges were there to offer advice and guidance to the students. In the group was Mr. Keener and Ms. Lazo, as well as math, computer science, and robotics teachers Ms. SueAnn Seccafico, Ms. Bryann Scioli, Ms. Janet Gillespie, and Ms. Stacy Goldstein. They scored teams based on their Research Plan, Research Results, Research Analysis, Teamwork, Prototype/Solution, and Presentation.

“As a math teacher, it's so wonderful to see students outside of a classroom,” said Ms. Lazo. “We get to see them bringing their expertise, their ideas, their passion. Looking at their problem-solving skills, looking at the amazing apps that were created, their use of graphic design, their presentations -- to be able to see the amount of collaboration taking place among students, it was amazing.”

Originality was a key factor, Ms. Lazo added. “Our first-place winners definitely did that,” she said. “But they were all winners. So even though [only “Steady Shopping”] is moving on to the second round, we did give every team some kind of award.”

“UpLife!” won Best Use of Survey Results, “Healthy Parenting” won Most Sophisticated Survey, “iPet” won Most Adaptable, “Evade Runners” won Most Poetic / Best Game, “Civilian App” won Most Ambitious, and “NutriHelp” won Most Health-Conscious.

Muhammad Sharjeel ‘22 from the “EvadeRunners” team said, “It made me feel like all the hard work we did was worth something, because who wouldn't want to have the best game?”

From the group “Healthy Parenting,” freshman Felix Gerzon said, “It was definitely fun. We worked as a team. We were on a little bit of a time crunch because we had a week to do everything, and that week wasn't a break week. It was a normal school week, so we had to work on stuff during school. It wasn't as efficient as if we had the weekends to do it.”

For many students, the learning experience and the creative process made it all worth it.

Ashley Rayford, a junior from the “iPet” team, said, “I learned how to use Google Forms, how to design technological things, and how to take constructive criticism.”

Elain Garcia ‘22 from “EvadeRunners” didn’t have much experience with coding and computer science to begin with. He just joined for fun, he said.

“I like how I’m able to use creativity to make things, so I’m really looking forward to learning concepts behind the technology that can help the environment,” he said. “The hackathon allowed me to develop a passion for creating something for the benefit of the public. In brainstorming, I came up with ideas I really want to follow up on. One particular idea, a method to cure Alzheimer's, really took up speed after the hackathon. In fact, I recently wrote a proposal of sorts to a bioengineering internship and I hope I hear good news from them.”

“I hope the hackathon inspires students to appreciate the power and joy of creative thinking,” Mr. Keener said. “Covid is not stronger than students' desire to compete and be a part of something.”